Warne to captain Melbourne Stars in Big Bash League

Melbourne, July 10 (ANI): Melbourne Stars have signed leg-spin legend Shane Warne for the second season of the Big Bash League as the captain of the Twenty20 side.

Warne will replace hard-hitting batsman Cameron White, who endured a forgettable Big Bash season last summer.

White wants to concentrate on regaining his place in the Australian T20 team for the T20 World Cup in September.

The return of Warne, who will be 43 in September, gives the revamped Big Bash a further boost, The Herald Sun reports.

Australia's most popular player, Warne was a reason crowds numbers and Fox Sports ratings soared last summer. More than 550,000 people attended the new eight-team competition, which sold out some of the smaller grounds.

Warne played all the Stars' eight matches in the inaugural Big Bash League, taking seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.74.

While salary caps for the Big Bash are about $1 million a team, Warne is again expected to earn about 500,000 dollars thanks to a variety of third-party deals, The Herald Sun reports. (ANI)