Australian cricket legend Shane Warne dead at 52 of suspected heart attack

Shane Warne, who was considered to be the greatest bowler in cricket history and helped Australia win the World Cup in 1999, has died. He was 52.

Fox Sports television, which employed Warne as a commentator, quoted a family statement early Saturday as saying he died of a suspected heart attack in Koh Samui, Thailand.

"Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived," the statement said. "The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course."

Known as "Warnie," Warne took 708 test wickets in 145 matches for Australia from 1992-2007, second only to Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan's 800 test wickets from 133 matches.

"Spinning was a dying art, really, till Shane Warne came along," cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew told the BBC.

Warne was also part of five Ashes-winning teams against England during his career.

Warne made his test debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1992 and rose to become a key figure across all formats in one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance by any team in world cricket.

He delivered the "Ball of the Century" with his first toss of the 1993 Ashes tour, bowling Mike Gatting with a ball that turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail, instantly writing himself into folklore.

"It's one of those wonderful highlights of the game," Gatting said in 2018. "One of those bits of history that belongs not only to me but to probably the best legspinner of all time."

Warne was noted as much for his life off the field as on it.

He was banned for a year in 2003 for taking a prohibited substance, which he blamed on his mother for giving him a diuretic to "improve his appearance." But he