Shane Warne has agreed to rejoin Hampshire on a two-year contract, and will succeed Robin Smith as their captain. Warne, who took 70 wickets in his debut season in county cricket in 2000, was delighted to be returning, and described Hampshire as his second home: "I enjoyed it so much last time, and I will do everything I can to establish Hampshire at the forefront of English cricket."

Though he was keen to stress that Australian cricket remained his top priority, Warne was aware that his international days were drawing to a close: "I don't know when my form will finish or someone comes and taps me on the shoulder and says my time is up. But for now it's a matter of me making sure I've got security and building a relationship with Hampshire."

Warne has never made any secret of his captaincy ambitions, the one honour to have eluded him on a regular basis during his illustrious career. According to Tim Tremlett, Hampshire's director of cricket, the prospect of Warne returning to lead the side had long been in the pipeline: "When Shane left us at the end of the 2000 season he said if the window of opportunity did come about then he would love to come back," said Tremlett. "The captaincy issue came at what the club felt to be the right time. Robin Smith has been in the position for five years and has done a tremendous job, but we just felt it was the right time for a change."

Tremlett added that Hampshire had been in regular touch with Warne throughout the 2002 season: "Initially it was just as a player, but as the season progressed, the option of the captaincy became more real. You always get 100% from Shane, but from the club's point of view him being captain is the icing on the cake."

Warne was briefly Australia's vice-captain under Steve Waugh, and when he stood in for Waugh during the Carlton & United Series in 1998-99, he enhanced his reputation by leading Australia to ten wins in eleven matches.

But a spate of disciplinary problems - including a series of obscene phonecalls to a nurse during his stint with Hampshire - seemed to put paid to his hopes of full-time elevation. Adam Gilchrist took over as vice-captain of the Test side, while Ricky Ponting has since been handed the one-day captaincy. Warne has since been limited to the occasional match in charge of Victoria.

His task will not be an easy one, however. Hampshire were relegated to the Second Division of the Championship after a poor season, and Warne is fully aware of the expectations.

"I know he is as keen as I am to see the side back in the First Division at the first attempt," said Rod Bransgrove, Hampshire's chairman. "We have had a poor season, and are anxious to build a side capable not only of promotion, but becoming champions as well."

Warne will be working alongside Paul Terry, 43, who returns to his old county as coach in succession to Jimmy Cook, who was sacked towards the end of the disappointing 2002 season.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd