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Test cricket’s greatest bowler Shane Warne announced his retirement from international competition on Thursday, drawing the curtain on one of the most celebrated careers in the sport’s history.

Saying he wanted to go out on top, the 37-year-old Australian leg-spinner with a world record 699 Test wickets revealed the two remaining Ashes Tests against England will be his last international matches.

“It’s been unbelievable — my ride in international cricket’s been phenomenal,” an upbeat Warne told a packed media conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Warne said he had also retired from Australian domestic cricket but will see out the remaining two years of his contract with English county side Hampshire.

Fast bowler Glenn McGrath is also tipped to announce his retirement soon, while batsmen Damien Martyn quit suddenly just before the third Ashes Test.

Warne said he had considered retiring after the 2005 Ashes but decided to press on after Australia’s shock loss to England set him on “a mission to get that urn back”.

The goal was accomplished in emphatic fashion last week when Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series and Warne said he could now retire happy, even though his remarkable bowling prowess remains intact.

He broke the news to captain Ricky Ponting as the team celebrated its Ashes victory in Perth.

“While the team’s successful I think it’s a good time to go out on top,” Warne said, declaring “now is my time” and saying he could not imagine reversing the decision.

Warne’s Test record and larger-than-life personality have already assured his status as a legend in the game.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph declared Warne’s departure as the “End of an era” and the Australian newspaper hailed him as cricket’s best ever bowler.

Warne was pleased to have the chance to take his 700th Test wicket before his adoring home crowd here and then finish his career in Sydney, where he made his debut against India in January 1992.

The scandals led to Warne being stripped of the vice captaincy in 2000 and probably prevented him from becoming Australian skipper, but he said he had no regrets.

Warne said he felt privileged to have played in a champion Australian side and felt he had given something to the game’s fans.

Warne said he would like to be remembered as someone who “gave it everything he possibly could, he had fun along the way, he was an entertainer and people liked watching me, I suppose”.

Source:The News