Shane Warne to quit

Warne about to announce retirement: report

ustralian spinner Shane Warne is about to announce that he will retire at the end of the current Ashes series, according to reports this evening.

Channel Nine said cricket's leading wicket-taker would hold a press conference on Thursday to announce his career is over.

The station also reported that Australia's veteran pace spearhead Glenn McGrath would also hang up his boots after the Ashes series, but did not say when he planned to make his announcement.

McGrath is the third-leading Test wicket taker in history and his loss combined with Warne's departure would represent the end of a golden era for Australian cricket.

Cricket Australia would neither confirm nor deny the reports but said it would be up to Warne and McGrath to make any announcements regarding their futures.

"There is nothing we can say," said spokesman Peter Young.

"Those two players are the masters of their own destiny and the owners of their own futures and when they announce decisions on their futures is up to them."

But earlier today Australian cricket selector Merv Hughes gave no indication Warne was about to retire.

"We talk of Shane Warne - he could play for another 10 years. You just don't know," he said.

The 37-year-old Warne is widely regarded as the best bowler ever to play the game, single-handedly reviving the art of leg-spin bowling since his debut in January 1992.

He hinted at retirement after Australia crushed England at Perth's WACA ground to reclaim the Ashes after last year's shock loss.

"These are the things you're going to miss," he said as the WACA crowd and team-mates celebrated the win. "I'm closer to the end than the bloody start."

Warne has 699 Test wickets and is set to pass the 700 mark before his adoring hometown crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the fourth Test beginning on Boxing Day.

The fifth and final Ashes Test will be played in Sydney from January 2.

Many of the highlights in Warne's 143 Tests have come against traditional rivals England, and on Wednesday England batsman Paul Collingwood said the bowler was still capable of staying on to tour England in 2009.

"He'll be old but I'm sure he'll be able to still land a ball," he said.

"The guy literally is a legend. It's probably an overused term but in cricketing terms he is the ultimate legend and probably the best bowler that's ever been on this planet."

-AFP/ABC