The remarkable career of Shane Warne, cricket's greatest bowler and its biggest walking headline, is about to end.

Test cricket's leading wicket-taker, who revolutionised legspin bowling and is considered Australia's greatest player after Don Bradman, will confirm his retirement on Thursday.

Warne, 37, is expected to announce he will bow out after the fifth Ashes Test against England at the SCG next month.

Warne's announcement means the final two Tests of the summer will be the curtain calls for one of Wisden's five cricketers of the century, with the Victorian likely to add another exclamation to an already remarkable career by taking his 700th Test wicket during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

And although Australia has the Ashes in its keeping, it is poised to lose another of its best servants, as fast bowler Glenn McGrath is reportedly ready to also retire.

McGrath is third on the list of all-time wicket-takers behind Warne and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, and with 555 wickets is the most successful paceman the game has produced.

McGrath, 36, spent most of 2006 out of international cricket to be with wife Jane in her battle against cancer, and is also reportedly ready to call it quits after his home Test at the SCG.

News of the pair's pending retirements comes less than a fortnight after batsman Damien Martyn, 35, shocked his teammates by retiring, and leaves Australia's selectors with the tough task of rebuilding an attack set to lose its two spearheads.

Warne and McGrath have played 265 Tests matches between them and 102 together and have made a career of haunting England's batsmen.

The pair was part of the Australian side which surrendered the Ashes in 2005, but helped regain them just 15 months later, which will ensure they will go out on top.

However, that did not reduce the shock.

Warne has regularly said he would have loved to have returned to England in 2009, while McGrath recently spoke of how strong and fit he felt upon his return after nine months out of Test cricket.

Cricket Australia would not confirm reports of the pair's departures, while management for both bowlers could not be contacted.

Former Australian captain Allan Border, current coach John Buchanan and selector David Boon all admitted to shock over Warne's announcement and were reluctant to comment until Thursday.

Border, Warne's first Test captain, said the Victorian did not need to retire.

"Well, definitely not - he's in superb touch, he's bowling well, physically he's very well," he told Fox Sports.

"I just got the inkling that he was even considering one more tilt at England in England and that would see him out.

"I suppose there's a lot of innuendo about what the reasons are ... I'm in a bit of a state of shock."

From a wayward start of 1-150 in his debut Test against India in 1992, Warne became a bowler of genius who revolutionised the then-dying art of legspin.

He bowled Mike Gatting with what was dubbed the "ball of the century" with his first delivery in an Ashes series, and quickly rose to a match-winner of unerring accuracy, skill and aggression.

Yet for all his wizardry on the cricket field, he led a turbulent and controversial life off it.

His repeated sex scandals cost him the Australian vice-captaincy and ultimately his marriage, in 1995 he was fined by the then-Australian Cricket Board for accepting money from a bookmaker, and in 2003 was suspended for 12 months for testing positive to a banned diuretic.

Injuries, sponsorship conflicts, public relations disasters and send-offs to batsmen also tarnished his career.

But he always maintained a knack of keeping his off-field turmoil separate from his on-field achievements.

He won Australia the 1999 World Cup not long after being dropped from the Test team, claimed his 500th Test wicket in his first Test back after his drug suspension and produced the greatest performance of his career - 40 wickets during the 2005 Ashes series - while in the process of separating from wife Simone.

His enigmatic style meant many of his Australian teammates were unaware of his retirement until they heard news reports.

However, he gave a sign of things to come when he said after winning the Ashes back on Monday: "These are the things you're going to miss ... I'm closer to the end than the bloody start."

It is unclear when McGrath will retire from international cricket, as he still plays for Australia's one-day side, which will next year aim to win a third-straight World Cup, in the Caribbean.

McGrath made his debut as a spindly 23-year-old in 1993, yet became the iron man of Australian cricket over the next decade and the archetypal fast bowler of metronomic control, who bowled superbly in tandem with Warne.

However, injuries and his wife's illness prevented him from playing regular cricket over the past three years.

But former Australian captain Ian Chappell said the timing was right for both bowlers.

"I'm delighted for both of them that they are calling it a day at the end of this series," Chappell said.

"I think it's perfect timing for a champion player ... if you make a mistake it's best to get out a little early than a little late."

The sudden departure of both players leaves Australia's selectors with the scenario they dreaded - having a group of senior players leaving at the same time.

Martyn has gone, Warne and McGrath are to follow, and opening batsmen Justin Langer, 36 and Matthew Hayden, 35, and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, 35, are also nearing the end of their careers.

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