A week on holiday with his children persuaded Shane Warne that something had to give in a life gradually branching out from cricket. Yesterday that something turned out to be Hampshire as the Australia great severed his playing ties with the club he has transformed over eight years and announced his retirement from the first-class game in a text message sent to The Times.

Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, led the tributes after reaching an amicable agreement with Warne, 38, one that both parties knew deep down had to be the way to go. “When Shane came to us in 2000 Hampshire were a sleepy provincial club,” he said. “Now we are among the leading sides in the country and much of that is down to Shane.”

Warne's ability to fulfil the final year of his contract in England became clouded by a conflict with the Indian Premier League (IPL) when the dates for the new Twenty20 competition were put back. It will now run from April 18 to June 1. As captain and coach of the Jaipur-based Rajasthan Royals and an ambassador for the event, Warne is wholly committed. He had already pulled out of the Twenty20 Cup in England with one eye on a poker event in Las Vegas.

After the most recent negotiations with Bransgrove, Warne had agreed to return towards the end of July with the aim of playing through the potentially crucial - and spin-friendly - months of August and September. Bransgrove, however, detected a change in tone from the player.

“He was so keen to come back and we were so keen to have him,” Bransgrove said. “Over the past week he has been away with his kids again, for the second time this year, and nobody can overestimate how important that side of his life is to him. From our point of view, we wanted some greater clarity as well. I am not sure you can really bring your captain in and out of a side in the way you can the rest of the players. We both arrived at the same conclusion and in the end we both knew that it was the right thing to do. He was as sad as I was.”

Warne has separated from Simone, his wife, and was keen not to spend longer than necessary away from his three children, Brooke (10), Jackson (8) and Summer (6). When he became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets, at Old Trafford in 2005, he kissed a wristband that his children had given to him before the Ashes tour.

He knew that his first-class career was coming to an end and the possibility of compromising commercial interests outside the game was not a feasible alternative.

Warne had already retired from all cricket at home - from his club side, St Kilda, upwards - after the 5-0 Ashes series defeat of England in 2006-07. During the winter he has taken the first steps in coaching as a spin consultant to Cricket Australia, although the task of finding a successor for his own position would be a challenge for Superman.

Indeed, one way to assess Warne's greatness is to consider that when he emerged in 1993 to “sex up” spin bowling, many commentators thought that he would act as a role model for a generation. That nobody has come through to replace him confirms how difficult it is to master arguably the hardest skill in the game.

On top of his control of line and length and ability to spin the ball almost square at times (think of his dismissal of Marcus Trescothick at the Brit Oval in 2005), his force of personality has galvanised teams.

Bransgrove said: “He may not be with us any more, but players will still draw inspiration from having been alongside him.” As recently as this winter, Michael Carberry explained his transition from county to potential England batsman via the Lions by citing Warne's insistence that Hampshire play to win at all times. Warne was also influential in helping Shaun Udal and Dimitri Mascarenhas to win international recognition with England.

He will be desperately disappointed not to have led Hamsphire to leading domestic honours. He was absent when they won the Friends Provident Trophy in 2005 and was generous in his praise for Durham when they beat his side in the final last season. As matters stand, that will prove to be his last appearance at Lord's.

Mascarenhas has been named the new Hampshire captain, but he will miss two weeks of the season in May when he plays for the Royals as the single England representative in the IPL. Warne was instrumental in bringing him to the attention of the Jaipur franchise for auction.

Surrey ban for Asif

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, has been barred from playing for Surrey this season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Asif said that the PCB wanted him to recover from his elbow injury and be rested for international cricket.

Yorkshire have confirmed that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan will be available after joining from Sussex, who will themselves have Mushtaq Ahmed available. Both players have been granted permission after protracted negotiations because of their involvement with the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Lalit Modi, the chairman of the Indian Premier League, said that he expects it to involve many England players in the future. “We don’t want to conflict with the English season,” Modi said.

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