Shane Warne, Australia's legendary legspinner, dies aged 52

One of cricket's all-time greats has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52.

In a 15-year career for Australia between 1992 and 2007, he claimed

According to a brief statement given to Fox Sports, he passed away in Thailand of a suspected heart attack.

Despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived after he was found unresponsive in his villa.

The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.

Hours after the death of another icon of Australian cricket, former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, who also suffered a heart attack earlier this week, the shocking news came.

Warney, as he was known throughout the cricketing world, was one of the true icons of world cricket, a man who almost singlehandedly revived the art of legspin in the early 1990s.

Although Abdul Qadir of Pakistan kept the art alive, he was not able to match the glamour and attacking intent of the man with the bottle-blond hair and a keen tactical brain that he used to outfox a host of unwitting opponents in his pomp.

In his fifth appearance, he ripped out seven match-winning second-innings runs, after bowling Australia to an unlikely victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo, in which he took a solitary strike.

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Ian Chappell, Mark Nicholas, and Gideon Haigh look at that delivery.

It was the 1993 tour that solidified the legend of the man. In the opening match of the series at Old Trafford, and having been shielded from England's batters during the preceding one-day series, Warne's first delivery left the sport dumbfounded as he served up the ball of the century.

Gatting was so confused, he did not initially realise he had been bowled, and in that moment, Warne exerted a hold over England's batters that was so absolute, they would not come close to regaining the urn for another 12 years. In the summer of 2005, when Australia won the urn for the first time in over a century, the last person to be prised from it was Warne, who had a career-best haul of 40 wickets.

Away from the cricket field, he was involved in a court controversy. He was often near the front of the tabloids with revelations about his personal life. In 1995 he and his team-mate Mark Waugh were fined for giving information to an Indian bookmaker.

In 2003 on the eve of the World Cup, Warne was suspended from international cricket for a year after a banned diuretic was found during a drugs test - he claimed it had been given to him by his mother to help him lose weight.

Even though the year away from the game might have ended lesser careers, it gave him an extra lease of life going into his 30s. In March 2004, he returned to action with four five-wicket hauls in a row to lead Australia to a memorable three-game series win in Sri Lanka, and then played a crucial role in their victory in India.

He retired from international cricket with typical showmanship, leaving the field arm-in-arm with his long-term bowling ally Glenn McGrath after Australia's whitewash of England in the 2006 Ashes. His personal contribution had been 23, including his 37th and final five-for, which was in front of his Victorian fans.

The legend was not done even at the age of 37. He was recruited by Rajasthan Royals to captain their franchise in the inaugural season of the Indian premier league and he delivered the title with 19 wickets at 21.26 in the course of the campaign. He was the only bowler to fail in the final against Chennai Super Kings, but he still played a crucial role in the victory.