Warne gets Hall of Fame honour

Australia great Shane Warne is to be inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame. The leg-spin legend will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame during the tea interval of the second day of the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord's on July 19. The ICC, cricket's global governing body, made the announcement in a statement issued from its Dubai headquarters. Warne, credited with reviving interest in leg-spin outside Asia, was the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets and represented Australia in 145 Tests between 1992 and 2007. In all he took 708 Test wickets at an average of 25.41. His tally of 3,154 Test runs is the most by any player without making a hundred. Warne also took 293 wickets in 194 one-day internationals at an average of 25.73 and was a member of the Australia side that beat Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup final at Lord's where his team-mates included fellow Hall of Famers Glenn McGrath and Steve Waugh. His return in the final of four wickets for 33 runs in nine overs saw Warne named man-of-the-match. "I'm very honoured and proud to be announced as an inductee into the ICC Hall of Fame later this month and I'd like to thank the voting academy very much for even considering me," said Warne, currently in England working as a television commentator during the ongoing Ashes series, which started Wednesday at Nottingham's Trent Bridge ground. "I'm looking forward to celebrating my induction with my friends and family in front of the crowd at Lord's during the second Ashes Test." Warne is the 69th male member of the Hall of Fame and the 18th from Australia. ICC Cricket Hall of Fame - initial inductees (55): Sydney Barnes (ENG), Bishan Bedi (IND), Alec Bedser (ENG), Richie Benaud (AUS), Allan Border (AUS), Ian Botham (ENG), Geoffrey Boycott (ENG), Donald Bradman (AUS), Greg Chappell (AUS), Ian Chappell (AUS), Denis Compton (ENG), Colin Cowdrey (ENG), Kapil Dev (IND), Sunil Gavaskar (IND), Lance Gibbs (WIS), Graham Gooch (ENG), David Gower (ENG), WG Grace (ENG), Tom Graveney (ENG), Gordon Greenidge (WIS), Richard Hadlee (NZL), Walter Hammond (ENG), Neil Harvey (AUS), George Headley (WIS), Jack Hobbs (ENG), Michael Holding (WIS), Leonard Hutton (ENG), Rohan Kanhai (WIS), Imran Khan (PAK), Alan Knott (ENG), Jim Laker (ENG), Harold Larwood (ENG), Dennis Lillee (AUS), Ray Lindwall (AUS), Clive Lloyd (WIS), Hanif Mohammad (PAK), Rodney Marsh (AUS), Malcolm Marshall (WIS), Peter May (ENG), Javed Miandad (PAK), Keith Miller (AUS), Bill O'Reilly (AUS), Graeme Pollock (RSA), Wilfred Rhodes (ENG), Barry Richards (RSA), Vivian Richards (WIS), Andy Roberts (WIS), Garfield Sobers (WIS), Brian Statham (ENG), Fred Trueman (ENG), Derek Underwood (ENG), Clyde Walcott (WIS), Everton Weekes (WIS), Frank Woolley (ENG), Frank Worrell (WIS) 2009 Inductees: Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG), Steve Waugh (AUS), Wasim Akram (PAK), Victor Trumper (AUS), Clarrie Grimmett (AUS) 2010 Inductees: Rachael Heyhoe Flint (ENG), Ken Barrington (ENG), Courtney Walsh (WIS), Joel Garner (WIS) 2011 Inductees Belinda Clark (AUS), Frederick Spofforth (AUS), Curtly Ambrose (WIS), Alan Davidson (AUS) 2012/13 Inductees Enid Bakewell (ENG), Brian Lara (WIS), Glenn McGrath (AUS), Shane Warne (AUS) From: AFP