CRICKET: It is too early and too emotive to start predicting the end of the career of the man who picked up spin bowling by the scruff and, with a bleached hairdo and a gold earring, made it into a fashion item. Mike Selvey reports from the MCG

But Shane Warne will be out of cricket for four to six weeks, possibly more, and perhaps for ever after dislocating his troublesome right shoulder against England on his home ground yesterday.

It can be said with certainty that England will not face Warne when next the sides meet, back here in Melbourne on Decemeber 26th, for the fourth Test, nor on January 2nd when the Ashes series winds up at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It can also be supposed that he will miss the remainder of the triangular one-day series throughout January, and must be extremely doubtful for the World Cup, which begins in South Africa in six weeks' time.

Australia, as with all the World Cup entrants, are expected to submit their 15-man squad by the end of this month, and will be asking the International Cricket Council for clarification on the rules regarding a replacement should they name an injured man who subsequently proves unfit for the tournament.

"We are not quite sure at the moment how bad it is," said Errol Alcott, the Australian team's physiotherapist. "We do know that he has had an anterior dislocation. That was put back in successfully by our doctor. He will now remain in hospital to be X-rayed and to see the shoulder specialist who treated him previously.

"It is difficult at the moment as we don't know the extent of the damage. If there is no serious damage it could be four to six weeks but if there is any bone damage you can add weeks on to that.

"We can't use the World Cup as a milestone for his rehab as there are other things we have to think about. We have never seen a dislocation in a leg-spinner before and this is new territory. A serious dislocation can cause bone damage and rip ligaments. That then needs extensive surgery."

Warne's shoulder popped out as he fell heavily on his right elbow when diving to stop an on-drive by Craig White off his own bowling. In considerable distress and after treatment on the field, he was carried on a stretcher to the dressing room.

The path to recovery will not be straightforward. Four years ago, in late April, Warne underwent reconstructive surgery on the rotator cuff tendon of his right shoulder after continuous strain placed on the joint by the nature of his trade.

By October it was still not ready and he missed a subsequent three-Test series in Pakistan, and then the first four Ashes Tests of that winter before returning for the final match in Sydney where he was out-bowled by Stuart MacGill.

A year after the operation it had still not recovered sufficiently for him to give free rein to his skills, and the unthinkable happened in the final Test of four in the West Indies when he was dropped. Only at the World Cup in 1999 was he back to his mesmeric best.

The doctors, particularly the shoulder specialist who performed the surgery, will have a difficult task now. First will come X-rays to search for bone damage; then the scans to see what ligament trouble there might be as a result of the dislocation; next, an assessment of damage, if any, to the reconstruction of the shoulder.

Then finally the long, slow and painful process of rehabilitation. It would be hard enough for a 20-year-old, even more daunting for a 33-year-old.

It would be a surprise if there were no complications. Of all the disciplines in cricket, none, not even fast bowling, puts the sort of extraordinary strain on the shoulder joint that wrist spin does.

Since the shoulder operation he has imparted less spin, by his prodigious standards, to his leg-spinner. He has all but abandoned the googly and the under-spun flipper, relying instead on variations to the spin on his leg-break and a topspinner that goes straight on.

It has all been designed to place less stress on an overworked shoulder that for 10 years or more has been put through contortions for which it was never designed. That wear and tear have their effect goes with the territory. This, though, was just cruel.

Even without Warne to torment them for the final 21 overs of the match, England, chasing a daunting 318 for six, slipped to an 89-run defeat after being dismissed for 229.

Having been beaten in the opening match on Friday in Sydney, England were undone by the 225-run partnership of Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting.

Guardian Service