Shane Warne is regarded by many as the best leg spin bowler ever to play cricket. Despite an undistinguished debut performance against India in 1991, he has since revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of what many cricket authorities regarded as a dying art. Combining the ability to turn the ball huge distances, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a wide variation of deliveries (notably including the flipper?), he has become Australia's greatest ever wicket taker, with 407 wickets at a bowling average of 26.07. Many of his most spectacular performances have occurred in Ashes series against England, whose inexperience against legspin bowling made their players particularly vulnerable, though with feats like the famous "Gatting Ball" which spun furiously to bowl a bemused [Mike Gatting]? in the 1993 series most of the credit is Warne's. Warne has also been highly effective bowling in [one-day cricket]?, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. Warne is also noted for his exuberant (and sometimes effective) lower-order batting, and on several occasions has captained Australia effectively.
Despite nearly universal recognition of Warne's talents, his reputation with fans and cricket authorities is mixed. In 1998, he was forced to admit that he had taken money to provide pitch and weather reports from a man later discovered to be operating with bookmaker?s. While such an offence was trivial compared to the likes of Hansie Cronje who took money to throw matches, the extreme naivete Warne avowed struck many observers as somewhat dubious. His exuberance and occasional intemperate remarks and actions on and off the field have also not endeared him to the more conservative parts of the cricketing public and officialdom. His private life has also been subjected to scrutiny by British tabloid newspapers.
After several years of indifferent performances, Warne had much success in the 2001 Ashes series in England.
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