Shane Warne's traditional role at Perth's WACA ground is supposed to be as a support bowler for the pacemen - but it seems no one told him that. The brilliant Australian leg-spinner again grabbed the limelight when he smashed yet another world record here Saturday by claiming his 86th Test wicket in a calendar year.
Playing in the first Test against South Africa on a wicket normally famed for its pace, Warne brought up the record when he trapped Ashwell Prince, albeit in a questionable decision, lbw for 28 in the second to last over before tea on the second day. He had earlier equalled the record, set by former Australian paceman Dennis Lillee in 1981, when he bowled AB de Villiers for 68.
Warne, 36, was already the greatest wicket-taker in Test history with 645 wickets at 24.97 coming into the Test.
Lillee, the president of the Western Australian Cricket Association which gave its name to the ground where Warne broke his record, was on hand to see his record broken. "He is one of the best I have ever seen - if not the best," he said. "I would go anywhere to watch him play. He is a magician.
"To watch him move a guy around the crease, up and down and across ... as I say, he's a wizard."
Warne said he was proud to claim the record and also returned the compliment. "It's a pretty proud achievement actually," he said. "Dennis is a legend. He is one of those guys everyone looked up to."
Warne said although he never played with Lillee, both of them were committed to taking wickets rather than just restricting batsmen. And paceman Lillee "always loved a challenge."
Warne is technically bowling better than at any time in his career, surpassing his previous best years of 72 wickets in 1993 and 70 in 1994 and 2004. His best haul during the year was 6-46 in the second Test against England during the recent Ashes series. He finished that match with 10 wickets.
"I'm pretty happy with my shape. I've probably played 15 seasons or 16 seasons of international cricket so to have your best line being the current one, I suppose that ... makes you look forward to the coming years," he said. But he firmly ruled out any suggestion of a return to limited-overs cricket, including the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
"I think one of the reasons I am doing so well in Test cricket is that I don't play one-day cricket any more," he said, describing it as too physically demanding.