Cricket: Warne statue unveiled at MCG

Shane Warne poses during the unveiling of the Shane Warne statue at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photo / Getty Images

His first seven-for, a hat-trick, his 700th Test wicket and now a statue.

Shane Warne's presence at the MCG is no longer just memories - he's now there forever as the 11th statue of Australian sporting greats at the ground.

And rather than the new shiny made-for-magazines Shane Warne, it's the old Shane Warne who took 708 Test wickets and etched himself in Australian cricket folklore.

He's depicted ripping down a leg break, a skill which he's shown recently in Twenty20 cricket that he can still produce.

But Warne the statue is also carrying a few things he no longer has - the earring, the mullet and the paunch.

"It's 300 kilos that statue, it's pretty lifelike for when I played," Warne said after unveiling the statue.

"It's a great honour, it's a bit weird seeing yourself up there but, I'm very proud."

He remembered the days, like thousands of other Melbourne boys, of catching the train with his brother to watch the footy and cricket at the MCG.

But he also recounted feats that no-one else could perform at the MCG.

Warne rated his breakthrough 7-52 to beat the West Indies in 1992-93, his hat-trick against England in 1994 and his 700th Test wicket in the last of his 11 Tests at at the MCG in 2006 as his highlights at the ground he called his backyard.

And now a statue.

He joins fellow cricketing greats Don Bradman, Keith Miller, Bill Ponsford and Dennis Lillee, Olympic athletes Betty Cuthbert and Shirley Strickland and AFL footballers Haydn Bunton, Leigh Matthews, Ron Barassi and Dick Reynolds as statues at the ground.

Warne's is also the first statue to stand in the newly named Avenue of Legends which stretches from the MCC members gates to Jolimont Station.

AFL coaching legend Norm Smith will be the second Avenue of Legends statue, to be unveiled next year.

- AAP