Warne says he has split from Simone

Amid speculation of a tryst between Shane Warne and British actress Liz Hurley, the
Australian spin bowler says he broke up with his ex-wife Simone Callahan "a while
ago".
Just as Hurley tweeted that her marriage was over some time ago, Warne on Monday
night issued his own statement saying he and his former wife had split.
"Sadly and unfortunately, Simone and I split up a while ago; our close friends and
family were informed at that time," Warne said in a statement on his website.
"It is a private matter so we did not make it public. We remain friends and will
continue to be good parents."
Warne, a prolific tweeter, posted a note on Twitter to say he had put the statement
on his website and it had "been a long day".
But his website crashed, with Warne then tweeting: "Apologies for website crash ...
It's now working ... Hope that clears things up for everyone who is interested ...
Have a good day/night ..."
TV and newspaper crews descended on Warne's Melbourne home on Monday after British
tabloid reports that he and Hurley had last week spent a steamy couple of nights in
a London hotel.
After the News of the World published photos of them kissing, Hurley, 45, tweeted
that her marriage to multimillionaire Arun Nayar had been over for months.
"For the record, my husband Arun and I separated a few months ago. Our close family
and friends were aware of this," Hurley said.
Warne and Simone split in 2005 but had since reconciled.
The former Test cricketer refused to speak to the media after arriving at Melbourne
Airport from London and again at his home in suburban Brighton as he came and went
with his children on Monday morning.
About 20 reporters and photographers were camped outside the wrought-iron gates of
the Warne family home, in a scene all too familiar to neighbours of the plush
bayside residence.
They were not amused as once again their quiet leafy street in the affluent suburb
was transformed into a media circus, compounded by the comings and goings of trucks
and heavy equipment in and out of the building site adjacent to the two-storey home.
Police were called just after lunch to keep the peace.
They reassured media they were welcome to do their job, but asked photographers "as
a favour" to move one of their cars to make sure builders had enough room to reverse
their trucks into the street.
Warne, 41, arrived and left the house twice during the morning, with two of his
three children with him in his black Mercedes-Benz.
His ex-wife was not seen at all.
Warne met Hurley at an English race meeting in July and the two have been tweeting
each other ever since.
Last month Warne announced he would interview Hurley on his new Australian TV chat
show, called Warnie.