THE name's Warne, Mick Warne; Warney to his friends. He's a leg spinner from Australia and he's come to join us for the season.

And, yes, he is related to legendary Aussie leggie Shane Warne. He's his cousin.

But 21-year-old Mick says he's completely self-taught and hasn't had any lessons from his famous relative.

Mick hails from Traralgon in Victoria from where he plays both grade and representative cricket.

His clubs are Imperials, where he was the A Grade captain last season, and St Kilda.

Mick describes himself as a bowler who bats and he comes highly recommended.

He started playing cricket at the age of nine and taught himself how to bowl leg breaks when he was 12.

"I haven't really modelled myself on Shane and I don't bowl the flipper," he volunteered when he arrived at Bideford's Westward Ho! ground for a welcoming party on Monday night.

But he said he was looking forward to taking plenty of wickets in both the Devon League and North Devon League.

While in Bideford, Mick will also help with the coaching at Wednesday evening Colts' practice sessions.

Colts' organiser Andy Davies said: "He is looking forward to getting very involved with our Colts' set-up and, hopefully, he will also be visiting local school

COURTESY NORTH DEVON GAZETTE