IT'S A glorious Melbourne afternoon and Shane Warne bounds into the bayside office of The Shane Warne Foundation with the bounce of a prizefighter.
He gallops up the stairs, gives a warm greeting to his personal assistant, Helen, and his brother, Jason, before we head into the boardroom for a chat.
Wearing a T-shirt, jeans and white thongs, Warne is relaxed.
Even more so when he ditches the thongs and rests his feet on the table.
He's been in the wars again, this time a nasty cut on his right eyebrow after he was hit by a rearing bouncer playing county cricket in England. But, as you would expect of a proud warrior, he wears it like a badge of honour.
Just as we begin to talk, Helen brings in the first of several boxes of miniature County bats which the champion leggie needs to sign for his charity work. He gets to work on those.
His body language is clearly upbeat, but given the personal upheaval Warne has endured in the past 18 months, it's worth asking a simple question: Are you happy?
Yeah, comes the bubbly reply.
I miss my children when I am away. I am lucky Hampshire gave me four weeks off a month into the season, so I was only away (from Australia) for five weeks, then a month off in Australia, back to the UK again for a couple of weeks, then a week in Australia for the camp, then back to the UK for five weeks, and back again.
At least it wasn't six continuous months in the UK.
But, yeah, I am happy.
Whether you are a long-time friend of Warne, or just follow his deeds through the media, working the man out can be difficult.
While everything seems so simple for him out on the field, it can be a minefield off it.
Indeed, the past 18 months of his life have been the most tumultuous.
There's been a divorce after 10 years of marriage to Simone and the ensuing heartache of having to learn to deal with prolonged absences from his children.
There was that almost-mythical Ashes performance in England where the great sorcerer conjured an amazing 40 wickets and 249 runs in a losing series, followed by a strong summer in Australia and South Africa.
And, of course, there was another off-field controversy.
This time it was wearing those infamous Playboy jocks during a dalliance with two glamour girls in Britain, who set him up as part of a newspaper sting while he was playing for Hampshire.
Yes, Warne's life can be chaotic ndash; soap opera as he once described it ndash; but there is now a calm with his many playing and business commitments plotted in his diary.
Warne is something of a diary fanatic, regularly updating his details to one which tickles his fancy. This time it's a little red one.
Although Helen keeps him organised, when you're as busy as Warne you need all the help you can get.
In recent months, he began the county season in England, then flew back to the Australian team's boot camp in Queensland, spent time with the kids, returned to England to finish the season, then endured another long flight to Melbourne.
In the lead-up to the Ashes, there's been a Pura Cup game for the Bushrangers, trips around the country spruiking his new book, sponsorship commitments launching MessageVision for Messages on Hold and organising an event for his most cherished project ndash; the Boxing Day breakfast for The Shane Warne Foundation.
He's proud of the foundation that has raised and donated more than $750,000 for seriously ill and underprivileged children in Australia. His goal is to donate more than $2 million by the end of next year.
Warne, like any father, wants to spend as much time as possible with his children.
His love for his children is obvious, making the split of what appeared to be a tight-knit family a tough time.
During the last Ashes series in England, Warne plumbed emotional depths of despair he had never felt.
Having just said goodbye to his family at Heathrow ndash; the plan was to set up home in Hampshire ndash; an inconsolable Warne sat in his car in tears.
His marriage to Simone had ended on the eve of the Ashes series after another liaison surfaced in the English press.
How did he cope and get through this personal crisis when, seemingly, the whole world was watching?
I think what gets me through is my love of life, my love of cricket and the love of my children, he said.
The love of my life was my wife and children and I stuffed that up.
It's not always one-way when you get divorced, there's also other things others don't need to know. But, ultimately, it was my fault.
That was the hardest time in my life, just standing there at the airport before the Ashes start, saying goodbye to your kids and Simone.
It was bloody tough.
I remember bawling my eyes out for hours and sitting in the car for hours at Heathrow and thinking, `I have got to get over it' and `how am I going to get over it'?
I just had to get back out there and play, hold your head up and play. That's what I did.
His heroics in that Ashes series have been well told.
Eighteen months on, he finds himself in a much happier place, busy socialising, spending time with his children and working with his foundation.
My life, at the moment, is that I am looking forward to the Ashes series, and just doing what I have to do, he said. I am happy.
I am enjoying myself. I am busy, flat out. I am going OK.
The things in life that can stress you are the uncertainty and not knowing what's going on.
I know what the situation is in my life at the moment. It's just a matter of dealing with it.
Twelve months have gone, there was a lot up in the air then and the uncertainty of what was going on.
At least I know now what's going on. I am very relaxed now.
Warne and Simone still share his Brighton mansion, although Simone and the children will soon move into a new home not far away.
It's an unusual situation, I suppose, being divorced and still sharing the same house, he said.
Earlier this year Warne said he was disappointed with Simone because of her public comments about their marriage, but these differences have now been settled.
We are getting along very well and we will always be friends, he said.
Simone has a house being built and when it is finished and she moves in, I will continue to live in mine.
All I can say is, Simone and I get along very well, we always have, our children are our No.
1 priority.
Warne would love to keep his private life private, but that has never happened and he knows it never will.
I don't actually have a personal life.
As much as I can keep personal, I want to try to keep personal, he said. I can't whinge about that. That's just the way my life is.
It's like anything. If you do worry about the press, or worry about what people say and that sort of stuff, you actually let that get to you.
He just deals with it, prompting him to suggest he could be some kind of fame counsellor or mentor for young up-and-coming sports stars.
As Warne points out, he has seen it all ndash; sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll .
If you take a `who cares?' attitude towards it, they can actually say what they want, he said.
I have been burnt enough times, nailed . . .
what haven't I been nailed about?
I've brought a lot of it on myself, but I also think some of the press has been uncalled for and unfair at times.
That's where I could be a good mentor for younger players because there's not one thing I haven't been through ndash; sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, everything, whether it be divorce, banned for a year, the lot.
Indeed, Warne has been through almost everything.
A quick search through News Limited's pictorial library finds he has been snapped almost 5000 times since 1996. And there's many more news stories on file.
Putting aside the on-field exploits which have snared him a world-record 685 Test scalps, he's dealt with serious sports injuries ndash; having his bowling shoulder reconstructed and overworked spinning finger surgically repaired. But, like any rock star, there's always much, much more.
From the moment he rolled out his famous Gatting ball in 1993, the tabloids went dredging up his past from his younger years playing club cricket in England.
The list is endless ndash; and despite what the headlines read ndash; not always his fault.
But despite these stings over the years, Warne looks on the British media more favourably, and prefers London as a place to live.
The English tabloids move on quickly, looking for what and who's next, and, in the social hotbed that is London, there is plenty on offer.
While the Australian media breaks stories on Warne's private life and, basically, follows stories generated in England, he dislikes how the Aussie brigade does not let the story die and drags it out. Then there's the fact that some stories don't have an ounce of truth about them.
That's why he prefers London as a place to live.
I love everything about it, he said. It's a lot quieter. You guys hear the odd story and that sort of stuff.
But it's a lot bigger here, a lot more judgmental.
In England it's gone. The fish and chips are in it the next day.
Everyone here is judgmental, rather than reporting facts, they like to exaggerate and sensationalise here. I am single, I have been single for nearly 18 months, so I can do what I like. If people want to report what I do in my private life ndash; who cares?
Surely, everyone has had enough of that now?
Or so Warne hopes. Yet he knows he probably will be a target again this summer ndash; on and off the field.
Warney, you have certainly had to endure alot of flack and no doubt untruths about you, this story is great and really shows your human side that I'm sure alot of people forget about. Some people think you are super human and forget you have feelings..
..so well done to you for enduring everything you have (and admitting when you are at fault) as us human beings can be once or twice in our lives.
...
every single one of us ! Good luck in the ashes mate !
Love you Warney, always have and always will, best cricketer ever, and of course he is victorian
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