Regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game and arguably it’s the greatest tweaker, Shane Warne reached one of the greatest landmarks of his career on 11th August 2005. He became the first bowler in the history of Test cricket to pick up 600 Test wickets. What made it all the more sweeter was that it came against Australia’s biggest enemies, England in a highly anticipated Ashes series.
The venue of the occasion was Old Trafford in Manchester and Warne’s victim was Marcus Trescothick. For a milestone delivery, the wicket was as scrappy as it could get. The English opener while trying to hit the sweep, hit the ball with the back of his bat and Adam Gilchrist caught him out. This sparked wild celebrations from Warne and the entire Australian team, given the magnitude of the situation. It was another memorable moment in one of the most memorable Ashes series with Australia ending up losing the urn with a final series scoreline of 2-1.
| Milestone wickets of Shane Warne | ||||
| Player | Milestone | Opponent | Season | Venue |
| Ravi Shastri | 1st | India | 1991-92 | Sydney Cricket Ground |
| Brian McMillan | 100th | South Africa | 1993-94 | Adelaide Oval |
| Chaminda Vaas | 200th | Sri Lanka | 1995-96 | WACA Ground Perth |
| Jacques Kallis | 300th | South Africa | 1997-98 | Sydney Cricket Ground |
| Alec Stewart | 400th | England | 2001 | The Oval, London |
| Hashan Tillakaratne | 500th | Sri Lanka | 2003-04 | Galle International Stadium |
| Marcus Trescothick | 600th | England | 2005 | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| Andrew Strauss | 700th | England | 2006-07 | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Warne ended up achieving more landmarks to his name, playing 145 Test matches for Australia. He ended up picking 708 wickets in his glorious career, in which he often toyed with the batsmen. This tally means that he is still the second highest Test wicket-taker of all time, behind his peer Muttiah Muralitharan.
