BRETT Lee writes: Sitting in the Australian dressingroom after our last Test win, we saw another side of Shane Warne -- the storyteller.
We had a wonderful hour in which we sat around and listened to Shane and Merv Hughes tell stories about their touring days, and it was another reason to feel sad that Warnie will be gone from international cricket by the weekend.
Here were little moments which made you realise that, apart from all his other gifts, Warnie had achieved the quality every champion craves ... longevity.
One of his stories involved Tim May, who retired a decade ago. I think of Tim as being from a different era, yet his career overlapped Shane's by five years.
I have found Warnie a loyal friend and a generous person.
When a newcomer comes into the team, he is one of the first guys to go up and introduce himself and say, "I'm Shane", even though every person in the country knows who he is.
He still has that common courtesy.
He has been particularly great for the young players in the team.
He helped me when I first came into the side and he also helped Shane Watson and Michael Clarke and enjoys taking responsibility for the young guy coming through.
His generosity is well known. Every Christmas eve he shouts the whole team to a party at his place and he takes care of the catering and the drinks.
He brings his own chef in and, let me tell you, the food bill for 12 growing lads and their families would be substantial.
Warnie is also great for offering a left-field tip.
It is part of cricket legend the time he told the boys at a meeting during the 1999 World Cup not to walk if Herschelle Gibbs took a catch because he sometimes threw it in the air before he controlled it -- and we know what happened the next day when he infamously "dropped the World Cup".
As recently as the morning of the third day of the last Test he was getting dressed and quietly predicted: "We could win this game today."
Such a thought wasn't even on my radar. Sure enough, he was right.
Warnie is perceptive and noticed recently from slip that I was running in with longer strides than usual and it was affecting my performance.
He was right again.
Like Warnie, Glenn McGrath will also be missed.
A few days ago I asked Glenn about his retirement and he said since he made his decision he had not looked back. It was typical of cricket's Mr Positive.
No regrets, no second guessing. Just make a decision and off he goes. He knows he has made the right call.
It's a credit to him that he is so decisive and unemotional about it all.
With Glenn retiring, I feel the time is right for me to step up and take over the leadership role in Australia's attack.
Stuart Clark and I are looking forward to the challenge.
- BRETT LEE