LONDON, June 23: Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne is reportedly poised to sign a staggering million pound contract with an English county club.

Warne, who is being paid a speculated 40,000 pounds to write a coloumn in Britain's Sunday Mirror during the Ashes series, said he had always wanted to play county cricket and the time was ``right to go for it'', reported the newspaper.

Warne, one of the superstars of cricket's modern era, will delay his decision until the end of the Ashes series.

Austin Robertson, Warne's manager, has had preliminary talks with Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.

Lancashire, Yorkshire and Middlesex, all keen to sign warne some years ago, have also expressed interest.

``I've had some offers from different counties and there's a few that I'm considering,'' Warne was quoted in the report.

``My decision will depend on several things my form, my body and which county would suits me best.''

``Naturally the offer will be important too,'' added Warne, who turned down a 250,000-pound offer from Northamptonshire two years ago.

If Warne goes ahead with the deal, he will become the highest paid cricket professional in the world.

Warne, whose contract with the Australian Cricket Board is believed to be over a quarter-of-a-million Australian dollars (US $ 195,000), receives around ten times that from sponsorship and endorsement deals.

Warne, 27, has a multi-million dollar contract with Nike and has been offered shares in the official All Star Cafe chain, which has also been linked with Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Joe Mantana.

Warne's annual earnings last year were reported to be around A $ 875,000 (US $ 682,500).

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.