Shane Warne will have the honour of ringing the five-minute bell on Day Three of the Specsavers Test Match between England and Australia at Lord’s.
Warne, who was announced as Head Coach of the Lord’s-based team in the Hundred competition next year, is one of the all-time great Australian players and was named one of Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Century in 2000.
The leg-spinner made his Test debut for Australia in 1992 and went on to take 708 wickets in Test cricket. Coupled with the 293 scalps he also claimed in One-Day Internationals, he is only the second player to have reached 1,000 wickets in international cricket.
He was a constant thorn in the side of various England teams and retired from international cricket in 2007 off the back of a 5-0 Ashes whitewash.
An Honorary Life Member of MCC and a member of the Club’s World Cricket committee, Warne is no stranger to the Home of Cricket and his association with Lord’s will continue as the new Hundred competition begins in 2020.
Five-minute Bell
The ringing of the five-minute bell at a Lord’s Test by an international cricketer, administrator or well-known enthusiast of the sport is a recent tradition introduced in 2007.
The bell, which is located outside the Bowlers’ Bar of the Lord’s Pavilion, is rung to signify the imminent start of play, and it has become a great honour to be invited to ring it on the morning of a Test match.