SHANE Warne has confirmed his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the current Ashes series.The 37-year-old leg-spinner will play in the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney before bowing out.

SHANE Warne has confirmed his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the current Ashes series.

The 37-year-old leg-spinner will play in the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney before bowing out.

Warne, who has taken 699 wickets in 143 Tests, ended 24 hours of speculation by confirming the worst-kept secret in cricket this morning.

He admitted at a news conference at the MCG that he would have carried on playing until Australia regained the Ashes, and after they reclaimed the urn following victory in the third Test in Perth now was the right time to bow out.