Shane Warne's death at the age of 52 has stunned the world of cricket, and England, who he enjoyed a wonderful Ashes rivalry against, paid tribute.

Warne, who took 708 Test wickets - the second-highest total of all time - passed away in Thailand, with his management confirming the news to Stats Perform on Friday.

The leg-spinner, who moved into commentary following his international retirement in 2007, will go down as an all-time great of the sport.

Of his 708 Test wickets, 195 came against England, across 36 Ashes meetings. Against no other country did Warne take more wickets.

Following the news, England Cricket's official Twitter account posted: "One of the greatest of all-time. A legend. A genius.

"You changed Cricket. RIP Shane Warne."

Warne bowled one delivery short of 1,792 overs against England, with a remarkable 488 of those being maidens, while he took 11 five-wicket hauls against Australia's greatest rivals, and had 10 wickets across a match on four occasions.

He bowed out of international Test cricket, fittingly, against England in Sydney in 2007, having taken two wickets. Warne's first Ashes appearance came in 1993, when he took eight wickets in a 179-run victory for Australia in Manchester.