MELBOURNE, April 30: Australian Test cricketer Shane Warne reached an out-of-court settlement Tuesday with Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun over a false match-fixing allegation.

The 32-year-old leg-spinner, named as one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the century, dropped a defamation action which was listed to be heard in the Victorian Supreme Court Tuesday.

Warne, the most successful spinner in Test history, was seeking damages from the newspaper over a front-page article which appeared three years ago.

The newspaper published an apology to Warne on page three Tuesday.

It said: “On Jan 8, 1999, the Herald Sun published a front page article titled “Match Fix” above a photograph of Shane Warne. The article asserted that Shane Warne had admitted taking money for a cricket match that was fixed.

“The Herald Sun accepts that this assertion was incorrect and unreservedly withdraws it and apologises to Shane Warne for the hurt and upset caused by the article.”—Reuters