Shane Warne to turn into a Poker Pro

Australian Test cricket Great & Spin bowler wizard Shane Warne will start a new career as a poker professional.

Warne retired from test cricket last year with a record 708 wickets, only behind another great spin bowler Srilankan Muttiah Muralitharan, whois holding world record of 729 test wickets. However, Warne had signed with online poker Company 888.com to play world Series of Poker, Won by his australian Poker mentor Joe Hachem in 2005.

"Nothing will replace the 20 years of cricket in my life, but there are a lot of similarities," Warne told the Herald Sun newspaper. "It's a game of skill that has a lot of analogies to cricket. You have to be very, very disciplined."

Throughout his cricketing career Warne attracted as much controversy off the field as he did on it, with suspension for passing tips to an Indian bookmaker and the breakup of his marriage over extramarital affairs and phone text scandals.

He also served a ban for testing positive to a prohibited diuretic and in 1999 was charged with bringing the game into disrepute after criticising Sri Lanka's captain.

His first game as a professional would be at this week's Aussie Millions tournament in Melbourne. "My attitude is I've got a lot more to learn about the game," he said.

Warne said he expected to play poker in the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Britain this year, while filling a development role for Australia's promising spin bowlers.