His life off-the-pitch could be mistaken for a popular Australian soap opera - but it's what Shane Warne does on the field that has millions glued to their TVs.

The Australian has not only made leg spin fashionable again, he's taken it to a whole new level.

Fifteen years ago words like slider, zooter, back-spinner and toppie never existed - that was until Shane wrapped his fingers around the seam of a cricket ball.

But it's not just what he can do with the ball in his hand, he also has a cricket brain cleverer than the Cambridge University Department of Cunning.

No two deliveries in an over are ever the same when Warney's bowling.

He'll vary the type of ball, the amount of spin, the pace and the flight of each delivery.

This means the batsman hasn't got a clue what's going to come out of his hand next.

The picture says it all about Warne's bowling

Mix that uncertainty with a slice of Warney magic and he'll eventually end up with yet another wicket to add to his record haul.

He's also the unofficial holder of the "ball of the century" award when he bowled former England captain Mike Gatting in the first Ashes Test back in 1993.

What looked like a wide delivery pitching a foot outside leg stump suddenly turned viciously and just clipped Gatting's off-stump - just look at his face.

What was even worse was it was his first Ashes Test delivery - and he's had England's - and the rest of world's - batsman wrapped around his web of spin ever since.

A serious shoulder injury has almost cut short his career early and he was famously suspended from cricket for a year after using a banned substance.

But just like his bowling, Warne always has the last say and quite often, the last wicket too.