Shane Warne became the first bowler in Test history to claim 700 wickets when he dismissed England’s Andrew Strauss in Melbourne on this day in 2006.
The Australia leg-spinner went into the fourth Test of the Ashes at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground on 699 wickets, having revealed in the build-up that he would be retiring from international cricket at the end of the series.
Warne fittingly reached yet another milestone in front of a Boxing Day crowd of 89,155 with a sharply turning leg-break which spun into the stumps of England opener Strauss.
He went on to dismiss another four batters that day, claiming what would be the 37th and final five-wicket haul of his illustrious Test career, as the tourists collapsed to 159 all out.
![Cricket – Ashes Tour – Fourth 3-mobile Test – Australia v England – Day 1 – Melbourne](https://images.performgroup.com/di/library/omnisport/b5/79/2_4251030.jpg?t=-1531616628)
“As it turned out, whoever writes my scripts is doing an unbelievable job,” said Warne.
“I’ve just been sitting there since we started batting just shaking my head – I can’t believe it happened to be honest. It was a pretty amazing day.”
Warne would go on to finish with 708 wickets in 145 Tests as Australia sealed a 5-0 whitewash over England.
He died aged 52 in March last year from a suspected heart attack in Thailand.