Warne's assault blows apart the record book

Australia's leg-spinning maestro Shane Warne has sent out a huge warning to England as they prepare for the Ashes series, smashing more Test records in what has become a rejuvenation of his career against Pakistan.

Pakistan were 47 runs behind Australia's first-innings score of 444 with only two of their second innings wickets remaining in the third Test. Warne has three for 56 in the innings and Glenn McGrath three for 18.

Playing in Sharjah, where the black gold of oil has created great wealth, Warne has bowled into a rich vein of his own and has smashed the Australian record for most wickets in a three-Test series.

He has taken 27 wickets so far to move past Dennis Lillee, who took 23 in the 1979/80 series against England. Warne's wickets have come at an incredible average of 12.66 runs per wicket.

Warne has given himself every chance of becoming only the second player to take 500 wickets during the Ashes series, as he has now taken 477 wickets in his 104 Tests at an average of 25.73. Only West Indian Courtney Walsh has taken more Test wickets - 519.

Warne has also moved into equal seventh place on the list of wickets taken in three-Test-match series, a position he shares with Pakistan's Waqar Younis.

Warne's best figures in any series are the 34 he took on his first tour of England in 1993.

If getting some respite from Warne is not enough, pace-man Glenn McGrath moved past the 400-mark in the same innings, only the second Australian to take that many wickets.

McGrath, in his 87th Test, has now taken 403 wickets at 21.52.

Those ahead of him are: Walsh, Warne, Kapil Dev (434), Richard Hadlee (431), Muttiah Muralitharan (430), Wasim Akram (414) and Curtly Ambrose (405).

Most wickets for Australia in a three-Test series:

Runs  Wkts Avge
342   27   12.66   SK Warne             Australia v Pakistan         2002/03
388   23   16.86   DK Lillee            Australia v England          1979/80
388   23   16.86   R Benaud             Australia v India            1956/57
261   21   12.42   CTB Turner           Australia v England          1888
438   21   20.85   GD McGrath           Australia v Sri Lanka        1995/96
452   21   21.52   DK Lillee            Australia v India            1980/81
540   21   25.71   DK Lillee            Australia v Pakistan         1976/77
417   20   20.85   SK Warne             Australia v South Africa     1997/98
442   20   22.10   SK Warne             Australia v South Africa     2001/02
446   20   22.30   B Yardley            Australia v West Indies      1981/82

Most wickets by all countries in three-Tests:

Runs Wkts Avge 203 35 5.80 GA Lohmann England v South Africa 1895/96 401 33 12.15 RJ Hadlee New Zealand v Australia 1985/86 545 32 17.03 Harbhajan Singh India v Australia 2000/01 294 30 9.80 M Muralitharan Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe 2001/02 437 30 14.56 Abdul Qadir Pakistan v England 1987/88 315 29 10.86 Waqar Younis Pakistan v New Zealand 1990/91 342 27 12.66 Shane Warne Australia v Pakistan 2002/03 373 27 13.81 Waqar Younis Pakistan v Zimbabwe 1993/94 270 26 10.38 C Blythe England v South Africa 1907 401 26 15.42 WPUJC Vaas Sri Lanka v West Indies 2001/02