Australian spin legend Shane Warne has reportedly joined the list of cricket greats inducted into the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Hall of Fame at Lord's on Friday.
The former leg-spinner, who is the 69th male member of the Hall of Fame and the 18th from Australia, had received the honour during the tea interval of the second day of the second Ashes Test, and joined Australian greats Glenn McGrath and Steve Waugh in the institution, Sport24 reports.
Stating that he is honoured and proud to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, Warne, who is credited with reviving interest in leg-spin outside Asia, thanked the voting academy for considering him for the honour and said that many of the Hall of Famers were his childhood heroes including the likes of Ian Chappell and Dennis Lillee.
According to Warne, he is happy that he is celebrating his induction with his friends and family in front of the crowd at Lord's during the second Ashes Test, adding that he is lucky to play in a wonderful era of Australian cricket and make many friends along his 20-year journey.
Warne further said that he hoped that he kept his fans entertained and on the edge of their seats when they watched the Australian cricket team play.
However, the report added, Warne's honour was a ray of hope for many Australian fans in a capacity Lord's crowd of over 28, 000 as they watched Michael Clarke's men collapse to 128 all out, a first innings deficit of 233.
The report further said that Warne was the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets and represented Australia in 145 Tests between 1992 and 2007.
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, the report added.