One of crickets biggest stars, Shane Warne, the Australian spin bowler, has been having preliminary talks with Hampshire.

Warne's signature for next season would be a massive coup for the club, which moves into a new £17 million stadium at West End in 2001.

Hampshire coaching administrator Tim Tremlett confirmed "We have spoken to him. He's a player who interests us greatly and the situation at the moment is that we have had preliminary talks with him, although currently it hasn't gone any further than that."

Warne is the biggest name in world cricket after virtually reviving the art of spin bowling single-handedly.