Magical Warne retires from county cricket

Shane Warne is set to retire from first-class cricket after announcing on Thursday that he won't be taking up his contract to captain English county side Hampshire this season.

The former Australia leg spinner retired from Test cricket in 2007 as the sport's leading wicket taker and had been set to return to Hampshire after playing in the Indian Premier League.

But Warne, who was bought for US$450,000 (224,000 pounds) by the Rajasthan Royals in this month's IPL player auction, has decided against the move so he can spend some time with his children.

Warne finished his career with a world record 708 Test wickets and more than 1,000 in the international arena, although his Test mark was eclipsed by Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in December.

He wound up his Test career with a 5-0 Ashes series sweep of England, 14 years after his first ball in the biennial series - the "Ball of the Century" to bowl Mike Gatting in England in 1993 - launched him to international fame.