Ponting didn't want to hear Warne news

Shane Warne writes in his News Ltd column about how he dropped the retirement news to Ricky Ponting.

"Can I have a chat before you leave?" I asked as the party in Perth died down. He replied: "Yeah, what about?" Sensing what I was about to say, he hastily added: "No, no, I am not talking to you, I am not talking to you, I am not talking to you." He didn't want to hear the news.

I just said: "Look mate, it's time to retire." He couldn't believe it and was in shock. "What are you talking about?"

In The Age Greg Baum compares Warne’s departure to Ian Thorpe’s and he writes with Chloe Saltau in the Sydney Morning Herald the news did not come as a complete surprise to Cricket Australia.

In The Australian Mike Coward looks at Warne’s turning point in Sri Lanka in 1992.

What about life after cricket? Jon Pierik says in the Herald Sun Warne will be offered a role at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane and Michael Hussey says in the Daily Telegraph Warne told him it was time to be a father.

The Age reports Warne might be getting a stand named after him or a statue at the MCG.

Bill Brown, the Invincible, says in the Courier-Mail Bill O'Reilly was a better bowler than Warne and the paper's sports columnist Mike Colman remembers some Warne stories.