Warne enters the bronze age

Shane Warne has been synonymous with the MCG for the best part of two decades, and now he's set to become a much more permanent fixture at the venue. Warne was in Melbourne in Monday to be measured up for a statue to join other bronzed legends such as Don Bradman and Keith Miller outside the MCG.

And it was a much slimmer-looking Warne who had his measurements taken, compared to the chubby legspinner who took 129 of his 1319 first-class wickets at the MCG, his home ground. The MCC's sculptor Louis Laumen met with Warne, who will join Bill Ponsford, Dennis Lillee and several AFL stars and Olympians in being honoured with an MCG statue.

"Just finished measurement sitting for my statue at the mighty MCG," Warne tweeted on Monday. "Feel very privileged and honoured to join so many amazing and wonderful sportsmen in the way of a statue at the mcg - thankyou - humbled!"

And at least this statue, which is expected to be unveiled on Boxing Day, isn't subject to the whims of party politics. Last year, the Victorian premier John Brumby proposed renaming the Junction Oval, Victoria's second cricket venue, as the Shane Warne Oval, but his government lost November's election and it became unclear whether the new government would honour the commitment.