Australians can sleep easily again as Shane Warne on Sunday ended speculation that he is about to swap his Australian nationality for a German passport. Warne said on Friday he was investigating whether he qualified for a German passport so he could play for Hampshire as a non-overseas player.

The story has become front-page news in his home country, but he said on Sunday: “I am Australian, as simple as that, and I always will be. I’m not going to be Adolf Warne or anything like that — I’ll alwa ys be Shane Warne.”