Shane Warne

The loss of Warne, at the age of 52, sent shock through the cricket world, with Gatting forever closely associated with the man from Victoria.

Former England skipper Gatting was dismissed in sensational style by Warne during the opening Ashes Test at Old Trafford on June 4, 1993, when a seemingly innocuous delivery turned sharply and bowled the bamboozled home batsman.

The delivery veered to pitch outside the line of the right-handed Gatting's leg stump, only to dip, rip and zip beyond his defensive prod, beating the outside edge of the bat before going on to hit off stump.

Warne had already played 11 Tests, but this was his first in England, and the hosts only had an inkling of his talent. His first delivery in an Ashes Test went down in history.

"We understood he was a very talented sportsperson. He liked his surfing, he was a typical sort of Aussie larrikin, as they called them, who could spin the cricket ball," Gatting told BBC 5 Live.

"We didn't know much more about him than that, and in the match before they told him to just bowl his leg-breaks and he didn't bowl his flippers, and topples [top-spinners], and googlies, but when he got down the other end there, I was just trying to watch the ball.

"I knew it was a leg-break and I knew it was going to spin, you could hear it coming through the air from down the other end, and then just at the last yard or so, as a good leg-spinner does, it just drifted in, and it drifted just outside leg stump and just turned out of nowhere, a long, long way.

"I'm quite a wide chap and it got past me as well as everything else and just clipped the off bail, and I was just as dumbfounded as I am now to hear that he's died."

Gatting, now 64, was in his final years as an international batsman. Even with the passing of time, he remains astonished by the way Warne got him out that day.

"I can't believe it, and I couldn't believe it then, and it was just one of those that sort of probably helped him," Gatting said.

"He was a pretty confident bloke already, but I'm sure that gave him a huge amount of confidence and took him to the next level, and he kept going up levels after that."

Reflecting on Warne's death, after a suspected heart attack, Gatting said: "It's been just devastating really, and unbelievable. When you think he's 52, and he's been an absolute legend in the game, and I don't use that word lightly either. It's just unreal.

"We've lost a great cricketer and a great guy. I'm very, very happy to have called him a great friend."

Current England captain Joe Root said his squad, currently on tour in the West Indies, were "shocked and really sad" to hear news of Warne's death.

"My experiences of Shane were of someone who absolutely loves the game of cricket, was always a joy to be around, gave so much energy to the sport," Root said.

"Growing up as a kid he was a massive idol of mine, someone you wanted to emulate. The way he could win a game on his own, his skill level was incredible. But to have the opportunity to spend some time with him and get to know him a little bit, albeit not a lot, it's deeply saddening to hear the news this morning."

Root said watching Warne in the 2005 Ashes, where he shone with 40 wickets despite Australia losing the series 2-1, was "the sort of thing that makes you want to get into the game and play at the highest level".

"You could see his joy and enthusiasm when he played was still there when you got to speak to him," Root said. "He just wanted to see the game played at the peak of its powers. It's just really sad."

Warne's death has left the sporting world in shock. He was a genius with the ball, taking 708 Test wickets across a 15-year career for Australia, and his place among the all-time sporting greats is secure.

He enjoyed a wonderful rivalry with Australia's old enemies, England.

As first impressions go, Warne's in Ashes cricket was about as eye-catching as you could possibly get.  

It was June 4, 1993 and the second day of the series opener between England and Australia at Old Trafford. Having taken five wickets for 45 runs in the morning session to dismiss their rivals for 289, the home side's reply was progressing steadily enough at 80-1. 

However, Warne's introduction into the attack produced one of cricket's most memorable moments and changed the dynamic of the rivalry for over the next decade.

Mike Gatting will certainly never forget it, as the leg-spinner unfurled a delivery that flummoxed the England batsman.

"We understood he was a very talented sportsperson. He liked his surfing, he was a typical sort of Aussie larrikin, as they called them, who could spin the cricket ball," Gatting told BBC 5 Live on Friday, following the confirmation of Warne's passing.

"We didn't know much more about him than that, and in the match before they told him to just bowl his leg-breaks and he didn't bowl his flippers, and topples [top-spinners], and googlies, but when he got down the other end there, I was just trying to watch the ball.

"I knew it was a leg-break and I knew it was going to spin, you could hear it coming through the air from down the other end, and then just at the last yard or so, as a good leg-spinner does, it just drifted in, and it drifted just outside leg stump and just turned out of nowhere, a long, long way.

"I'm quite a wide chap and it got past me as well as everything else and just clipped the off bail, and I was just as dumbfounded as I am now to hear that he's died."

'The Ball of the Century', as it became known, was poetry in slow (bowling) motion. The initial drift appeared to make it look innocuous enough as it veered to pitch outside the line of the right-handed Gatting's leg stump, only to dip, rip and zip beyond his defensive prod, beating the outside edge of the bat before going on to hit off stump. 

It was a stunning opening statement. As if he had cast a spell that day, Warne would go on to dominate against England for the rest of his career. 

Gatting will famously be remembered as the first but plenty more would be mesmerised by Warne, who ended his international career with 708 Test wickets at 25.41. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Sri Lanka's own spin king, has ever managed more. 

The variations – the wrong'uns, flippers, sliders and shooters, or whatever other name Warne came up with for the latest addition to his bowling repertoire – all helped add to his aura. So many batsmen were often done in the mind before he had even released the ball from his right hand.

England suffered more than any other nation. Warne claimed 195 wickets against Australia's greatest rivals at an average of 23.3. 

More than half of that tally came on English soil too (129 at 21.9 in 22 matches), with his numbers against them in Australia impacted by missing the majority of the 1998-99 series due to a right shoulder injury, as well as a further two Tests in 2002-03. In terms of wickets abroad, South Africa sit second on his hit list, Warne picking up 61 there in 12 Tests. 

The young, bright-blond bowler in 1993 went on to finish with 34 scalps during the six-match Ashes, though a strike-rate of a wicket every 77.6 balls was comfortably the highest for any of his four series on English soil.

He picked up four in each innings in Manchester – albeit none with such dramatic effect as the delivery that did for Gatting – then repeated the trick at Lord's in the next Test. While the returns dipped for the remainder of the trip, including just one wicket at Headingley, Australia eased to a 4-1 triumph to retain the urn. 

From that away success towards the end of Allan Border's reign through the captaincy eras of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, the Australians would maintain their grip on the most famous prize in cricket until 2005, when Michael Vaughan's side worked out that attack was the best form of defence.

The competitive nature of that series – after a lop-sided opener at Lord’s that the tourists won, every other fixture provided sporting drama of the highest quality – seemingly inspired Warne to reach a personal Ashes peak.

No cause was lost when he had the ball that summer, as demonstrated when so nearly rescuing situations in eventual defeats at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, when his side's batting failures left them playing catch-up. In the end, though, his 40 wickets at 19.9 were not enough to spare Australia from slipping to a 2-1 defeat.  

Still, he became just the eighth bowler to take 40 wickets in a series – and the first since 1989 – while striking on average every 37.9 balls. England had managed to win the war despite coming out second best in their battles with Warne. 

His hugely successful English summer helped towards an overall haul of 96 wickets in 2005, comfortably the best return during a Test career that saw him take 70 or more in a calendar year on four occasions.

The last act was to help regain the urn at home in 2006-07, Andrew Flintoff becoming Warne's 195th Ashes scalp when stumped by Adam Gilchrist in Sydney.  The bowler who made the fading art of leg spin fashionable once again had bamboozled England for the final time.

Now, cricket mourns the loss of a rare talent and a true legend.

Warne was born in Melbourne and played for Victoria, with the MCG his home ground.

He took over 50 of his 708 Test wickets at the MCG and, in his memory, part of the stadium will be named after him.

On his last appearance for Australia in Melbourne, Warne took a five-for against England in the 2006 Boxing Day Test.

"I wanted to tell you all today that we will be renaming the Great Southern Stand, the S.K. Warne Stand and we will do that as soon as we possibly can," said Martin Pakula, the Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events.

"I can think of no finer tribute to the greatest cricketer this state has ever produced than to rename the stand the S.K. Warne Stand.

"No matter whatever happens to it in the future, if it is rebuilt or refurbished or renovated, it will remain the S.K. Warne Stand in perpetuity because his legend will live in perpetuity.

"He is the greatest cricketer that this state has ever produced. And it will be a long, long time before we see anyone near as good as him."

Warne's death has stunned the world of cricket, with tributes having poured in for the leg-spinner, who will go down as one of the sports' greatest players.

Warne was born in Melbourne and played for Victoria, with the MCG his home ground.

He took over 50 of his 708 Test wickets at the MCG and, in his memory, part of the stadium will be named after him.

On his last appearance for Australia in Melbourne, Warne took a five-for against England in the 2006 Boxing Day Test.

"I wanted to tell you all today that we will be renaming the Great Southern Stand, the S.K. Warne Stand and we will do that as soon as we possibly can," said Martin Pakula, the Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events.

"I can think of no finer tribute to the greatest cricketer this state has ever produced than to rename the stand the S.K. Warne Stand.

"No matter whatever happens to it in the future, if it is rebuilt or refurbished or renovated, it will remain the S.K. Warne Stand in perpetuity because his legend will live in perpetuity.

"He is the greatest cricketer that this state has ever produced. And it will be a long, long time before we see anyone near as good as him."

Warne's death has stunned the world of cricket, with tributes having poured in for the leg-spinner, who will go down as one of the sports' greatest players.

Warne, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, died at the age of 52 on Friday.

His passing has left the world of cricket, and sport in general, stunned. 

Masses of tributes have been paid to the former leg-spinner, who took 708 Test wickets for his country, the second-highest total of any bowler.

Ponting, who played alongside Warne for Australia between 1995 and 2007, and was Test captain for three of those years from 2004, has joined those hailing one of the sport's greats.

"Hard to put this into words. I first met him when I was 15 at the Academy. He gave me my nickname [Punter]," Ponting posted on his official Twitter account.

"We were teammates for more than a decade, riding all the highs and lows together.

"Through it all he was someone you could always count on, someone who loved his family, someone who would be there for you when you needed him and always put his mates first.

"The greatest bowler I ever played with or against. RIP King. My thoughts are with Keith, Bridgette, Jason, Brooke, Jackson and Summer."

Another of Warne's former Australia team-mates, Matthew Hayden, tweeted: "RIP Warnie. God only made one model of you my friend."

Justin Langer also played alongside Warne, and Fox Sports reported the ex-Australia coach as having said: "[Warne was] intensely loyal to his mates, controversial — he said it as he saw it. Incredibly generous, and, you know, he was a very kind and generous person but intensely loyal.

"Recently, the way he stood up for me in the last few months, I mean, that was Shane Warne, he looked after his mates.

"I've said this a thousand times… the best thing I did in cricket was play with Shane Warne."

Current Australia one-day captain Aaron Finch tweeted: "[Heartbroken] and shocked… absolutely shattered that we have lost one of the great sportsman and friends! The impact you had runs a lot deeper than cricket. You will be forever missed King!"

It was poetry in motion to witness the Australia legend come in off his short run before bamboozling batsmen all over the world time and again.

The cricket world is in mourning after Warne died in Thailand at the age of 52.

Not only was he one of the best cricketers of all time, Warne established himself as a sporting icon due to his wizardry with the ball and his infectious personality.

He made a huge impact with his incredible skill, passion for the sport and drive to reach new heights.

There was a swagger about the Victorian, who looked more like a surfer from Bondi Beach than a Test bowler when he emerged on the international stage with bleach-blonde hair and zinc sunscreen smeared on his face.

Warne certainly made waves in a magnificent playing career, with Muttiah Muralitharan the only bowler to have claimed more than his 708 Test scalps from 145 matches.

There were so many highs for the maverick tweaker, a standout being the 'Ball of the Century' to bowl Mike Gatting with a delivery that ripped up from outside leg to strike the off stump in the 1993 Ashes series.

He also claimed an Ashes hat-trick on his home Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1994 and was man of the match when Australia won the 1999 World Cup final against Pakistan after taking 4-33 at Lord's.

Warne loved being on the big stage and he thrived on the pressure, delivering multiple match-winning performances over the years.

There was an aura about him. He was a vibrant personality, a great sport, who knew how to enjoy himself, and far more than just a cricketer.

Off the field, he lived a colourful life and was described as a "rock and roll" cricketer by his commentary colleague Mark Nicholas on Friday.

Warne was stripped of the Australia vice-captaincy in 2000 after a phone-sex scandal involving a British nurse, at a time when he was married.

He was linked with many women, notably coupling up with British actress Liz Hurley to whom he became engaged, although they later split.

Famously, Warne was banned for a year after testing positive for a banned diuretic in February 2003, just prior to Australia beginning their campaign at the Cricket World Cup. He said the pill had been given to him by his mother, flatly denied any intentional wrongdoing, and was soon back to his best once that ban expired.

Warne continued to pass on his wisdom to both young and established players after calling time on his playing career, leaving spinners in particularly transfixed by both his actions and words.

He remained in the game as a coach, mentor and an excellent commentator, bringing an unrivalled energy to his work and play.

It was not only batsmen who had difficulty reading him, as he also experienced success on the poker table.

There was an air of expectation when Warne walked onto the field, entered a room, started a commentary stint or a coaching session.

The many tributes from far and wide for a sporting icon showed the measure of the man who has gone far too soon.

Warne was a superstar, a genius who lived life to the full and is a huge loss.

Warne was found unresponsive in his villa in Thailand on Friday after a suspected heart attack.

Thai police previously claimed Warne had complained of chest pains prior to his passing, and have since confirmed he died of natural causes.

Speaking at a news conference previewing England's Six Nations clash with Ireland on Saturday, Jones spoke warmly of Warne, saying: "Yes, terrible time, mate. Shane was an icon, wasn't he?

"He was a player that scaled the heights. He had his issues off the field, but he changed the game of cricket.

"There was someone on the radio I was listening to the other day who said that when he went to school, everyone was trying to bowl leg-spinners. They spent most of their time trying to get the balls off the top of the nets, because they couldn't bowl them.

"He did a trade that was physically the opposite of what you're supposed to do, for a long period of time, and became the top Test match wicket-taker.

"I was lucky enough to meet him on a couple of occasions. I remember we had a net session, with the Wallabies, against the Australian side, when they were right at the top, and Warne was at the top. We had a guy called Wendell Sailor – he was a larger-than-life character.

"He was batting against Stuart MacGill, who was the other leg-spinner. Wendell was coming in and smashing MacGill out of the nets.

"Warnie grabbed the ball and winked to the guys behind him, and said, 'Watch this'. He gave him two floated up and let Wendell smash him. The third one he bowled a bit shorter, a bit faster and he was bowled. Then he told Wendell to go where he needs to go, which I thought was a great little insight into such a wonderful sportsman."

Warne's body is due to be returned to Australia on Tuesday, where he is to receive a state funeral in Victoria.

It was June 4, 1993 and the second day of the series opener between England and Australia at Old Trafford. Having taken five wickets for 45 runs in the morning session to dismiss their rivals for 289, the home side's reply was progressing steadily enough at 80-1. 

However, Warne's introduction into the attack produced one of cricket's most memorable moments and changed the dynamic of the rivalry for over the next decade.

Mike Gatting will certainly never forget it, as the leg-spinner unfurled a delivery that flummoxed the England batsman.

'The Ball of the Century', as it became known, was poetry in slow (bowling) motion. The initial drift appeared to make it look innocuous enough as it veered to pitch outside the line of the right-handed Gatting's leg stump, only to dip, rip and zip beyond his defensive prod, beating the outside edge of the bat before going on to hit off stump. 

It was a stunning opening statement. As if he had cast a spell that day, Warne would go on to dominate against England for the rest of his career. 

Gatting will famously be remembered as the first but plenty more would be mesmerised by Warne, who ended his international career with 708 Test wickets at 25.41. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Sri Lanka's own spin king, has ever managed more. 

The variations - the wrong'uns, flippers, sliders and shooters, or whatever other name Warne came up with for the latest addition to his bowling repertoire - all helped add to his aura. So many batsmen were often done in the mind before he had even released the ball from his right hand.

England suffered more than any other nation. Warne claimed 195 wickets against Australia's greatest rivals – the most by any opposing bowler - at an average of 23.3. 

More than half of that tally came on English soil too (129 at 21.9 in 22 matches), with his numbers against them in Australia impacted by missing the majority of the 1998-99 series due to a right shoulder injury, as well as a further two Tests in 2002-03. In terms of wickets abroad, South Africa sit second on his hit list, Warne picking up 61 there in 12 Tests. 

The young, bright-blond bowler in 1993 went on to finish with 34 scalps during the six-match Ashes, though a strike-rate of a wicket every 77.6 balls was comfortably the highest for any of his four series on English soil.

He picked up four in each innings in Manchester – albeit none with such dramatic effect as the delivery that did for Gatting – then repeated the trick at Lord's in the next Test. While the returns dipped for the remainder of the trip, including just one wicket at Headingley, Australia eased to a 4-1 triumph to retain the urn. 

From that away success towards the end of Allan Border's reign through the captaincy eras of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, the Australians would maintain their grip on the most famous prize in cricket until 2005, when Michael Vaughan's side worked out that attack was the best form of defence. 

The competitive nature of that series – after a lop-sided opener at Lord’s that the tourists won, every other fixture provided sporting drama of the highest quality – seemingly inspired Warne to reach a personal Ashes peak.  

No cause was lost when he had the ball that summer, as demonstrated when so nearly rescuing situations in eventual defeats at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, when his side's batting failures left them playing catch-up. In the end, though, his 40 wickets at 19.9 were not enough to spare Australia from slipping to a 2-1 defeat.  

Still, he became just the eighth bowler to take 40 wickets in a series – and the first since 1989 – while striking on average every 37.9 balls. England had managed to win the war despite coming out second best in their battles with Warne. 

His hugely successful English summer helped towards an overall haul of 96 wickets in 2005, comfortably the best return during a Test career that saw him take 70 or more in a calendar year on four occasions.

The last act was to help regain the urn at home in 2006-07, Andrew Flintoff becoming Warne's 195th Ashes scalp when stumped by Adam Gilchrist in Sydney.  The bowler who made the fading art of leg spin fashionable once again had bamboozled England for the final time.

Broad took 4-21 on day three as he bowled four Black Caps top-order batters on Saturday, reducing the home side to 63-5 in their pursuit of 394 for victory in the first Test.

His efforts saw Broad and Anderson move to 1,005 Test wickets in matches where they have lined up in the same England team, going four past the record previously held by Australia greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Broad, 36, and 40-year-old Anderson have proven a remarkable pace partnership for England over the years, having first played on the same Test side at Wellington on a 2008 tour of New Zealand.

Fifteen years on, they remain key cogs in Brendon McCullum's England set-up.

Broad was quick to say Warne and McGrath remain a class apart, but he had fond words for Anderson, describing him as "a great leader to follow".

"It's a special country for us, New Zealand," Broad told BT Sport. "Back in 2008 at Wellington we came into the team together and to go past heroes of mine, growing up, in McGrath and Warne, certainly we're not in the category and quality of those two, they're absolutely heroic in what they did for the game.

"But to be up there and to have taken the amount of wickets with Jimmy – I feel very lucky and blessed to have been born in the same era as Jimmy, because certainly without him I wouldn't have been able to be at the other end taking wickets in the partnership that we've had.

"I've learnt so much from him throughout my career and he's probably the reason I'm still going at 36, in the way that he's done it."

England put up 374 in their second innings at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval, with Joe Root top-scoring with 57 amid a slew of useful scores, with eight batters each contributing at least 25 runs.

Broad said he liked the look of the conditions while observing Tim Southee bowling for New Zealand earlier in the day.

"I saw from Timmy bowling this morning when he rolled his fingers across a few, I saw the nip to Rooty," Broad said. "That was quite encouraging, actually.

"Although the pitch has played pretty true in the day, when the evening's come it's just jagged around a little bit, so my game plan was to try to hit the pitch as hard as I possibly can with the wobble seam, and it's almost the perfect dryness of pitch for my kind of bowling.

"I didn't have to chase too full. I could still bowl it hard into the pitch and bring the stumps into play, and it's always nice when you get a few quality batters out, bowled."

Australia legend Warne died at the age of 52 last Friday after suffering a suspected heart attack while on holiday in his villa on the Thai island of Koh Samui.

Tributes poured in from all over the world for a sporting icon, who took a remarkable 708 Test wickets during a 15-year career – second only to Muttiah Muralitharan.

Warne's family accepted the offer of a state funeral, and Victoria premier Dan Andrews on Wednesday confirmed a service will be held at the cricketer's home ground.

"There's nowhere in the world more appropriate to farewell Warnie than the 'G," Andrews wrote on Twitter.

"Victorians will be able to pay tribute to Shane and his contribution [to] our state, and his sport, at a memorial service at the MCG on the evening of March 30th."

Flowers, cricket shirts, photographs and beer have been left where Warne's statue stands at the MCG.

The Great Southern Stand at the famous ground will be renamed to the S. K. Warne Stand in tribute to the late, great spinner.

Langer guided Australia to T20 World Cup success last November before overseeing a 4-0 Ashes thrashing of England across December and January.

That demolition led to the dismissal of England coach Chris Silverwood, though Langer also chose to resign from his role after rejecting a short-term contract extension.

Cricket Australia's (CA) handling of the situation has been widely scrutinised, with Warne one of the most vocal critics, but the legendary former leg-spinner believes England could profit from Langer's exit.

"If I were England, I'd be jumping at him," Warne said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

"Winning an Ashes and a World Cup, it doesn't get much bigger than that for Australia, but for me [Langer] was a dead man walking when I didn't hear the captain or any other players sticking up for him, saying he was fantastic. I found that really disappointing.

"Why couldn't Cricket Australia come out and say they were not renewing his contract straight away but would wait until the end of the summer, see who the best candidate is and if Langer is still the best candidate give him a contract?

"I thought it was pretty poorly handled and that Cricket Australia were disgraceful in the way they handled it."

Paul Collingwood takes charge in the interim, with England heading to the Caribbean for a three-Test series against West Indies, which starts on March 8.

However, Joe Root's tourists will do so without Stuart Broad and James Anderson – who have taken a combined 1,177 wickets – after the pair were surprise omissions.

Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, Saqib Mahmood and the uncapped Matt Fisher are the specialist seam bowlers included instead.

But Warne understands why Anderson was not selected, though he questioned leaving Broad out.

"I wasn't surprised Anderson got left out," he said. "He is England's best ever bowler and when the conditions suit he is still a handful but when it was flat [in Australia] I think he struggled.

"He bowled a nice line and length, was economical and could dry up and end and could do a role with firepower at the other end. But I think he needs conditions.

"You want him to play in England and if he plays in the West Indies after the Ashes series it is going to be hard in England so I don't mind him having a break – but I would have played Broad.

"I think at times he bowled really well in Australia. People lump Broad and Anderson in together but Broad is four years younger than Anderson, so I am surprised Broad didn't go to the West Indies."

Legendary spin bowler Warne auctioned off his iconic baggy green cap – exclusively awarded to Australia's Test cricketers – to raise money for bushfire victims.

Bushfires continue to ravage Australia, where there have been casualties and devastating losses to wildlife with blazes in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

The online auction ended on Friday morning and Warne's baggy green doubled the record amount paid for one of Don Bradman's caps, which went for 425,000 AUD in 2003, with 100 per cent of proceeds to be donated.

Australia great Warne, who is second on the all-time list for Test wickets with 708, tweeted: "Thank you so much to everyone that placed a bid & a huge Thank you / congrats to the successful bidder - you have blown me away with your generosity and this was way beyond my expectations!

"The money will go direct to the Red Cross bushfire appeal. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you."

Ben Stokes declared “write this team off, write me off at your own peril” after his England side ended their tour of India with an abject defeat inside three days in Dharamsala.

James Anderson becoming the third bowler and first non-spinner to reach 700 Test wickets on Saturday was relegated to secondary status by England’s meek batting display as they lost by an innings and 64 runs.

A fourth successive defeat and seventh in 12 Tests was confirmed within just eight sessions of play, with England on a downward slide after winning 10 of their first 11 under Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

The duo’s methods have come under scrutiny during a 4-1 series defeat and Stokes has underperformed, averaging 19.9 with the bat, but the England captain was bullish about his team’s future prospects.

“Not just myself but the team are big enough to say we’ve been completely outplayed in the last four games,” Stokes said. “I’m always man enough to say we got beaten by the better team.

“Failure is a great teacher to sports teams. You either let failure and disappointment eat you up and shoot you down or you learn from failure and you make sure you don’t lose the enthusiasm of what we do.

“This series shouldn’t affect anything we’ve managed to achieve before this tour. It’s the first time, particularly these last four games, that this team has been dominated pretty much the whole time.

“We will use this as inspiration to become a better team and to become better players. I am obviously disappointed with my performance, but write this team off, write me off at your own peril.”

While Joe Root made 84 before he was last man out, he lacked a useful foil as England were skittled for 195, needing 259 to make India bat again, as Ravichandran Ashwin banked five for 77 on his 100th Test.

England have reached 400 just once in this series – in their famous triumph in Hyderabad in the opener – and what has been billed as an attack-minded mantra under this leadership has been questioned.

“The media name ‘Bazball’ – everyone says, ‘what is it?’ – in my opinion it’s wanting to be a better player,” Stokes said.

“In the face of defeat and failure, ‘Bazball’ will hopefully inspire people to become better players and become even better than what we are.

“I think we’ve done a lot of things right. One thing India have done is stay true to what makes them successful. We have done that but not been able to execute how we’d like to.

“Whenever we managed to wrestle back any type of momentum with the ball or bat, India were always able to then put it back on to us. That was where the Tests after the first one were won and lost.”

Stokes, who played his 100th Test in Rajkot, refused to make any excuses at the end of an anticlimactic few months for England in all formats. As well as this defeat, they were knocked out of the Cricket World Cup at the group stage and lost both ODI and T20 series in the West Indies.

“If we we weren’t disappointed, if we weren’t frustrated at how the series has ended up, I don’t really know what other emotions you could have,” Stokes said.

“Use it as fuel. I always feel like I can’t work any harder, but I’ll come away from this tour and go home and work even harder than what I have done out here for the summer coming up.”

Anderson, with his father in the crowd, finally joined Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne in the 700 club. The 41-year-old spent several months in the 690s but the moment came when Kuldeep Yadav hung out his bat and edged through to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.

“He doesn’t play the game for the milestones, he plays for his team-mates and England,” Stokes added. “He’s just an unbelievable ambassador for the game and in particular fast bowling.

“If someone came up to me and said who should I emulate if I want to be a good fast bowler, the first name I’d say is Jimmy Anderson.”