Just how good is Warne?

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From the moment he blasted into the international spotlight with his first ball in an Ashes match - with what is widely considered as the ball of the century to Mike Gatting - Shane Warne gone on to terrorise English batsmen for more than a decade.

Throughout his career he has been in the headlines, and love him or loathe him, there is no doubting that he has gone on to be one of the game's most successful and recognisable figures. In 1994 he was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year, and in 2000 named one of the five Wisden Cricketer's of the Century. He revived legspin, thought to be virtually extinct, and is now pre-eminent in a game so transformed that we sometimes wonder where the next champion fast bowlers will come from.

And, as English fans know only too well, he seems to reserve his best performances for the Ashes, with 132 wickets in 26 matches.

Love him or hate him, Warne has his place among cricket's all-time greats guaranteed, but maybe full appreciation of his genius will become more apparent with the passing decades.