Strewth! Shane Warne immortalised in new musical, but Liz Hurley isn't bowled over

LIZ Hurley has done her best to transform him with new hair, new teeth and a slimline figure — but to cricket fans Shane Warne will always be the portly Aussie with a devastating leg spin and boisterous off-pitch antics.

Now Warney both old and new can be seen on stage, in a musical telling his life story.

Shane Warne: The Musical opened today in Australia. A version of the tongue-in-cheek show originally ran in 2008 but it has now been updated to include his relationship with Hurley after they met in 2010.

The show’s creator, Eddie Perfect — who also plays Warne — said he wanted to focus on how the sportsman’s look had “transformed” since he met Hurley, including the apparent use of lipgloss, the well-conditioned face and fervent Twitter use.

However, it appears not to have amused the actress, who tweeted: “Mystified how supposedly decent actors can make a ‘fun’ musical about (Shane Warne) with subject matters guaranteed to make his 3 kids cry...”

Perfect said he was surprised by Hurley’s reaction as Warne, 43, had apparently been “OK with the show the first time around”. He described adding the “Liz Hurley stuff” as “shark-infested waters”, as most of the information was based on media conjecture.

“My satirical approach has stayed the same,” he said. “It’s not about the truth, it’s about perception, and how that perception gets distorted and amplified by the media and their relationship with the media.”

He said he wanted to depict Hurley as “sharp and powerful, how little s*** she took from anyone, how cool she was”. Christie Whelan-Browne, who plays Hurley, said: “You take the p***, but it’s totally with love.”

Hurley’s agent did not return requests for comment.

Tunes in the show include “What an SMS I’m in”, alluding to Warne’s text-related troubles, which included losing the Australia vice-captaincy in 2000 over erotic messages sent to a British nurse.

A Bollywood-style extravaganza pokes fun at a betting scandal involving an Indian bookmaker in the Nineties.

The show begins its run at Arts Centre in Melbourne before going on tour.