IN their home country of Australia the Warnes have it all.

They enjoy the trappings that go with the lifestyle of a sporting superstar.

Shane Warne, his wife Simone and their three children live in an £800,000 mansion in an affluent area of Melbourne, one of the most cosmopolitan and vibrant cities in the southern hemisphere.

However, when the Hampshire captain intimated he was on the verge of swapping it all to bring his family to Southampton for good, he found himself on a sticky wicket.

"I've bought a house and a car and everything in England. It is home at the moment and down the track it will probably be home for the family as well," he told the Daily Echo.

But that was news to his wife back in Oz.

Now Shane has been put on the back foot by Simone, who firmly reminded him that the family was not ready to move to Britain permanently.

Her rebuke in the Aussie media, after the Daily Echo broke the story that Shane was moving to Ocean Village, left the cricket legend a little red faced.

Back in Australia, his decision to set up home in Southampton has been compared to David Beckham's move from Manchester to Madrid two years ago.

Now it looks likely that Shane will have his new £350,000 property to himself for large chunks of the summer as Simone and the couple's three children - Brooke, eight, Jackson, five, and Summer, three - are all settled in Melbourne.

However, it is the friendship that he will find in Ocean Village, and not the glamour, that has attracted him to SO14.

His new four-bedroom home was owned by Matt Le Tissier, a good friend of Shane since the leg spinner's first season with Hampshire in 2000, and he will be living a boundary hit away from several of his teammates, including Alan Mullally, Kevin Pietersen and Simon Katich.

It remains to be seen if Shane, who has taken 573 Test Match wickets, intends to stay in Ocean Village beyond this summer. But one resident can understand why Simone is less keen on the move.

Next door neighbour Terri Leake said: "I don't know if he realises what he's getting himself into. It's hardly a palace, he's very welcome here but it's actually quite basic.

"It'll be comfortable - but nothing more. Most of the people around here are quite elderly and that's led to a quite strict and conservative policy.

"Children are basically not allowed into the garden areas and pets are discouraged.

Other neighbours have promised Shane a warm welcome when he arrives on April 5. Kevin Wooton said: "I think it's great that he's coming."