Sometimes, two balls is all it takes. Eighteen months ago, Shane Warne's career was going down the pan. Savaged in India yet again, his average (26.62) was at its highest since 1993-94. But a herd of benevolent Englishmen were waiting to restore Warne's reputation. He snared Mark Butcher with his second ball of the 2001 Ashes series, and despite largely unresponsive pitches (English spinners took just four wickets at an average of 93) Warne grabbed 31 wickets at 18.7. Even the sledging, a waste of energy as VVS Laxman whipped him relentlessly through midwicket, starting working again: Mark Ramprakash took the bait when he tried to put Warne in the River Trent and was stumped in the third Test. Never had Warne quite been so incisive: his series strike rate was grotesque for a spinner, a wicket every 38 balls.

Since then, with the aid of a strict diet - no pizza, no beer, not even any toasted cheese sandwiches - Warne hasn't looked back. In 17 Tests since his Indian nightmare, Warne has taken 101 wickets at an average of 22.44. But it's overseas that he's really excelled: in 11 Tests in England, South Africa, and against Pakistan in Sri Lanka and Sharjah, he's snared 78 wickets at 17.48, and at a rate of a wicket every six overs. The diet has clearly done the trick: in his 100th Test, in Cape Town, Warne toiled through 70 overs in the second innings, the longest stint of his Test career.

It's been some renaissance, but with 23 wickets needed for 500 and those Englishmen arriving right on cue, it seems there is plenty more to come.

Click here to see Warne's stats in the last 18 months

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