Warne to play for Stars

In a huge coup for the Stars - one of Melbourne's two Twenty20 teams in the new, city-based competition - the spin king has committed to a full season after initially agreeing to play only two games for a fee believed to be about $90,000.

But Warne, 42, later telephoned Stars president Eddie McGuire from London to say he wanted to "do it right" and, for the same fee, committed to the six-week season of seven home-and-away games and possibly two finals.

It is peanuts for a man who reportedly earned $1.8 million in his final Indian Premier League season with Rajasthan Royals, and yesterday a super-fit Warne, wearing the green Stars uniform, said money was never his motive.

"It's got nothing to do with money," he said. "If it was about money for me to come out of retirement to play cricket I'd still be playing in the IPL.

"It's something I'm passionate about. It's something I think is unique to Australian cricket - city-based cricket, something new.

"And to come back and play at the MCG is something pretty special. This is about being part of the Melbourne Stars."

Warne said he was injury-free and confident of playing a major role in the team's success.

"I think I'm in such good shape at the moment, I feel excited about playing cricket again and being involved in the team and I think I can have some sort of significant role," he said.

"Whatever Whitey (captain Cameron White) and Shippy (coach Greg Shipperd) wants me to do, I'm happy to do.

"The MCG has been my back yard for 20 years - it's always been something special here.

"The people of Melbourne always get behind me, in the Australian team and when I played for Victoria, so the MCG was something that really swayed me."

Warne's opening game for the Stars will be against Sydney Thunder on December 17.

And in the crowd will be his three children, Brooke, Summer and Jackson, and his fiancee, English actor Elizabeth Hurley.

"My kids, who are 14, 12 and 10, can't really remember dad playing cricket that much," he said. "For my kids and Elizabeth to come out and see me playing cricket here at the MCG will be pretty special."

Warne's 2011 IPL figures indicate there's magic left - 13 wickets at 22.84, conceding 6.31 runs an over.

McGuire said he was "sitting down on a deck chair watching my son play under-11s cricket for Prahran" when Warne called to say he wanted in for the season.

"He said, 'I really want to do this properly. I really want to be involved in the team. It's really important to me'," McGuire said.

With that, the Stars and Collingwood Football Club president "almost fell out" of his chair.