Scientists have honoured Shane Warne by naming an ancient Australian volcanic landscape after him.

The Warnie Volcanic Province, as it is now known, is a site of petroleum exploration and production in the Cooper-Eromanga Basins that span the borders of South Australia and Queensland.

Shane Warne has been working as a commentator on the current Ashes series

Volcanic craters, lava flows and magma chambers in the Cooper-Eromanga basins (pictured) have been discovered using advanced technology

The find of an ancient volcanic field in the outback has been dubbed Warnie in homage to the nation's famed spin bowlere. Pictured, graphical representation of how 'Warnie' was formed

WHAT IS 'WARNIE'? A 'Jurassic world' of around 100 subterranean volcanoes has been discovered in central Australia's outback. The extinct volcanoes are now hidden under hundreds of feet of sediment. During the Jurassic era, craters and fissures would have spewed hot ash and lava into the air while surrounded by river channels that evolved into large lakes and coal-swamps. Advertisement

Professors from the universities of Adelaide and Aberdeen recently discovered the network of 100 volcanoes buried deep under layered rock.

They came up with a name they believed appropriate for a 'once-fiery region' as they formulated their research paper while watching England v Cricket Australia XI in November 2017.

Warne, 50 next month, is cricket's second-most prolific Test bowler behind Muttiah Muralitharan.

Anil Kumble and Stuart Broad, third and seventh on the list respectively, have had a traffic roundabout in Bangalore and a Nottingham tram named after them in two of cricket's more unusual tributes.