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MELBOURNE - Shane Warne never imagined his farewell to be so successful after he captured five wickets and became the first player to claim 700 test scalps on the opening day of the fourth Ashes test against England on Tuesday.
The leg spinner was always going to be
the star attraction after announcing he was retiring at the end of the series with the Ashes safely back in Australia's hands, but the 37-year-old said he could not believe just how well things had gone.
Playing in front of a massive home-city crowd of nearly 90,000 at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground, Warne produced one of the finest days of his amazing career as Australia skittled out England for 159.
Warne clean bowled Andrew Strauss in his fourth over to reach 700 test wickets, then added the scalps of Kevin Pietersen, Chris Read, Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar to finish with 5-39.
"Whoever writes my scripts is doing an unbelievable job," he told a news conference.
"I can't stop shaking my head just believing it actually happened... it was a pretty amazing day."
Warne's five-wicket haul was his 37th in tests and while it was well short of his career-best figures of 8-71, the leg spinner said it was still an unforgettable day.
"There's some special things that happen in your life and some special days in your life and this is definitely one of them," he said
"There's the birth of your children, getting married, playing your first test, they're all pretty special.
"But from an individual point of view that's got to be one of the best days I've ever had."
Warne celebrated his 700th wicket by raising the ball aloft and almost set off on a lap of honour after collecting his fifth of the day to end the innings when he suddenly had a change of heart.
"I got tired so I stopped," he said.
"But seriously, I thought all the bowlers did really well today.
"I think they all deserve a lot of credit for bowling extremely well, rather than England capitulating."
Warne said he was surprised to finish with so many wickets because of the state of the wicket and the overcast conditions, which kept the moisture in the pitch and suited the seamers.
"I said before the test match that I thought I'd been bowling well without any rewards but to get five-for on a first day pitch... I didn't expect that," he said.
"But England, especially in recent times, have tried to be a lot more aggressive against me and when they do that I think I'm in the game all the time.
"When they just sit on you it's hard work but when they play their shots I feel like I have a chance."
Warne, however, believes his record-breaking feats will be surpassed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.
The Sri Lankan already has 674 test scalps but has a superior strike rate and, at three years younger than Warne, still has plenty of time left.
"I've always said that Murali will get 1000 wickets," Warne added.
"If he plays another 30 or 35 tests he's going to pretty close to be 1,000 which is probably only going to be another couple of years.
"Fifteen or 20 years ago, who would have thought who would have got 400 or 500, so maybe in the future lots of people will be getting 800, 900, 1000 and I'll be way down the order."
- REUTERS