Youth, Football and Early Cricket Career
Warne's first representative honours came when in 1983/84 season he represented University of Melbourne Cricket Club in the then Victorian Cricket Association under 16 Dowling Shield competition. He bowled a mixture of leg-spin and off-spin and was also a handy lower order batsman. The following season he joined the St Kilda Cricket Club near his home town of Black Rock. He started in the lower elevens and over a number of seasons progressed to the first eleven. During the cricket offseason in 1987 Warne played five games of Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club's under 19 team. In 1988 Warne once again played for the St Kilda Football Club's under 19 team before being upgraded to the reserves team, one step below professional level. Following the 1988 Victorian Football League season Warne was delisted by St Kilda and began to focus solely on cricket. He was later chosen to train at the AIS Australian Cricket Academy in 1990 in Adelaide.
Warne joined English team Accrington Cricket Club in 1991. He enjoyed a good season with the ball, taking 73 wickets at 15.4 each, but scored only 330 runs at an average of 15.0. The committee at Accrington Cricket Club decided not to re-engage him for the 1992 Lancashire League season as he was seen not to be good enough.
Warne made his first-class cricket debut on 15 February 1991, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. He was then selected for the Australia B team which toured Zimbabwe in September 1991. His best performance was 7/52 in a four-day match. Upon returning to Australia, Warne took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A against India in December 1991. The incumbent spinner in the Australian Test team, Peter Taylor, had taken only one wicket in the first two tests, so Warne was brought into the team for the third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground a week later.
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