Shane Warne

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In 'My Autobiography', Aussie leg-spin maestro Shane Warne, perhaps the outstanding cricketer of his generation - and one of the most consistently newsworthy characters in sport - takes stock of a phenomenally successful career, and gives his account of the scandals and controversies that have sent the media into spasms of delighted indignation. From his days as a frustrated teenage wannabe Aussie Rules star, who decided he might as well try his hand at cricket, Warne has almost single-handedly taken the gentle, studious art of spin-bowling and turned it into a thrilling gladiatorial spectacle - on the way gathering career stats that rank him in company with the game's all-time elite. Warne crashed into the world spotlight in 1993, when his first-ever ball in Ashes cricket made seasoned England star Mike Gatting look like a floundering buffoon: 'In the second or so it took to leave my hand, swerve to pitch outside leg stump, fizz past the batsmen's lunge forward and clip off stump, my life did change ... Ian Botham said he hadn't seen the same look of wide-eyed horror on Gatting's face since somebody had stolen his lunch a few years before.' And he has hardly looked back since - on the pitch at least. Outside the boundary rope it has been a different, though no less sensational story. The media has revelled in tales of extra-marital phone-sex, match-fixing controversies, and bust-ups with the game's authorities and fellow professionals -sparking endless nonsensical speculation as to whether this hard-drinking, smoking "yobbo" was too fat, too loud, too arrogant or just plain too much for cricket to take. This is a candid chronicle of his side of the story, and along the way there are some wonderful revelations about the mysteries of spin-bowling, the professional art of "sledging", and a fascinating insider account of Australia's rise to world dominance. A frank observer of others; an insightful assessor of his own achievements and motivations - and rarely descending into bland PR-consciousness - The King Of Spin has once again confounded all expectations and served up a peach. - Alex Hankin