SHANE Warne will return to the city where he first played cricket in England as a teenager when he leads out Hampshire at Bristol - for the second time in six days.

Captain Warne wrote another chapter in an already remarkable season when he took four wickets before scoring a run-a-ball 48 after returning early from Zimbabwe last week.

And the fact that he led Hampshire to victory at Bristol made the weekend all the more memorable for the 34-year-old, as Warne's first taste of England was playing club cricket for Bristol Imperial CC in 1989.

Writing in his autobiography, Warne recalled: "The opportunity to play in England in 1989 arose through Shaun Graf, an all rounder with St Kilda and Victoria who had gone to Bristol in the late 70s. For my flatmate Rick Gough and me those were some very happy times. Looking back I'm not sure how I managed to survive.

"I had been given the flick by St Kilda Football Club and, having set my heart on an Aussie Rules career, I didn't have a clue what to do next. Rick was a mate from St Kilda CC who was going to Bristol anyway, so when he asked if I fancied joining him I just thought of it as an opportunity for some fun and games away from home while I pondered my future. I certainly didn't think of it as a chance to delve deeper into the mysteries of wrist spin

"We played at least three days a week; the two of us had a ball. I had drunk alcohol before but never in the quantities I consumed that summer. Towards the end of the season, we were drinking machines. I still remember a place called Busby's which served pints at 20p each on a Monday night.

"Every hour was happy hour in there. On Tuesday we used to take it easy - perhaps just have a bite to eat in the beautiful pub called the George. It was owned by some of the nicest people I've ever met. They treated me like a son, they were like my parents away from home. I love going back to England to see Mike and Pat, Merv and Maureen and Simon and Judy.

"On Wednesdays we would frequent a place called Town's Talk Thursday to Sunday were just drinkathons. It helped that Gough and I were staying in the cricket pavilion at the ground."

Four years later Warne was touring England again, this time with Australia, and he marked his first Ashes tour by proposing to his wife, Simone, in the Lake District - before celebrating in Bristol.

"The team were in Bristol at the time, so there were lots of celebrations when we returned, firstly with my parents and brother who were in Bristol, and then with my teammates and friends I had made from 1989. The people at Bristol Imperial CC have become a second family."

Bristol Imperial CC disbanded in 1994 and most of the team joined West of England Premier League side Optimists & Clifton.