Melbourne, Feb. 12 : Former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne on Wednesday spent some time with children who had survived the bush fires that have ravaged most parts of Victoria.

According to Fox Sports, Warne, dressed in faded jeans with torn hems, had the kids gather around him at the local skate-ramp to sign their bats, balls and T-shirts autographed.

"There you are, buddy," he would say, ruflling a little boy''s hair. When it was time to finish and move on but a young one lingered, he''d say, "Gimme five!" They''d grin and slap his hand and take the hint.

It wasn''t till the game of bush cricket started that he managed to really crack the ice.

A skateboard was the wicket and a cardboard box the stumps. He bowled, an effortless graceful curve, while a determined small boy with a tight face and a bat waited. Every now and again one managed to thwack the ball. "Run run run!" Warnie would yell.

While the batter kicked up a cloud of brown dust racing to the wicket, fellow bowler Garry Lyon yelled to the crowd, "We need some fielders over there!"

Warne wouldn''t have known it, but one of the little boys there to see him had just lost his best friend. Another had lost his home and the rest of his street. The lucky parents there had cameras to capture their child''s moment with their hero. The unlucky ones had the clothes they were standing in.

Whenever a child thanked him, Warne would say, "No worries. No worries at all."

He was right about that. (ANI)