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SYDNEY - The expected retirement of Shane Warne will leave a huge hole in Australian cricket, former test captain and cricket commentator Richie Benaud says.
And Benaud expects more of the current test team will hang up their baggy greens sometime next year.
Fast bowler Glenn McGrath is also tipped to soon announce his imminent retirement, while batsmen Damien Martyn quit the game suddenly just before the third test.
"People keep telling me there are plenty of leggies down the road but they're not experienced enough and they haven't been given the opportunities, but I think there's going to be a big gap," Benaud told the Nine Network today.
He said after the fifth Ashes test at the SCG in the New Year, Australia won't play another test for 11 months.
"Now there are going to be a lot of fellows looking at their contracts, and what they're going to do," he said.
"Are they going to keep in training? Are they going to work hard all the way through the year? Perhaps (they'll be) deciding they might go before the selectors say so.
"Damien Martyn ... he started it, now Warne's second cab off the rank."
Benaud said Warne's impact on the game was indisputable.
"In the space of a short time, he's turned the game upside down, changed it in concept," Benaud said.
"I think his greatest single achievement is not necessarily the 700 wickets, but the fact that when (cricket bible) Wisden chose the five cricketers of the century, they chose Sir Donald Bradman, Garry Sobers, Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards and Shane Warne who had only been playing since 1991. That's quite remarkable.
"Shane Warne is without doubt the finest leg spinner the world has ever seen. You would certainly have Warne right up there as one of the greatest Australians to ever step on the field.
"He's one of the reasons Australia has won so many of its games in recent years."
Warne is expected to call a press conference early today to announce his retirement from test cricket.
The 37-year-old will play out the final two tests in the Ashes series in Melbourne and Sydney before giving away the game at international level.
Fast bowler Glenn McGrath is also tipped to finish his test match career at the end of the Ashes.
- AAP
