rediff.com
News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » Cricket » Australia ask 'who you Warne-a call? -- Pom buster!'
This article was first published 13 years ago

Australia ask 'who you Warne-a call? -- Pom buster!'

Last updated on: December 8, 2010 11:06 IST

Image: England team celebrate after winning the second Ashes Test in Adelaide
Photographs: Reuters

With Australia's Ashes campaign on the ropes after a crushing second Test loss to England, local sports writers have resorted to trying to cajole 41-year-old legspinner Shane Warne out of retirement to save the cricket team in their hour of need.

-Ashes Coverage

Warne, as famous for generating tabloid headlines as match-winning performances, would revitalise Australia's blunt attack which took only six wickets in their past two innings, columnist Peter Fitzsimons, a former Australia rugby international, wrote in Wednesday's Sydney Morning Herald.

"Yes, England are on course for their first stunning victory since 1986-87 and it will be at our expense. Unless we do something. Who ya gonna call? Not Ghostbusters. Why not Shane Warne?"

"You need to get these wickets. You have a choice of, say, Xavier Doherty, Nathan Hauritz, Cameron White and Shane Warne, in his Channel Nine commentary gear. How many would really throw the ball to any of the first three in such a scenario?"

More than 70 per cent believe Warne should be recalled

Image: Shane Warne

The stocky blonde extrovert from Melbourne's suburbs relished terrorising English batsmen over the course of a long, illustrious career, but retired from international cricket after Australia white-washed England 5-0 in the last home series.

He has since played for the Rajasthan Royals in the lucrative Indian Premier League amid his various media commitments, and is regarded by some Australian pundits as one of the finest cricketing brains never to have captained the national team.

More than 70 per cent of respondents to an online survey carried by local tabloid, the Daily Telegraph, said Warne should be recalled, but the spinner has played a straight bat -- without expressly ruling himself out.

"There has been a bit written in Australia and people have been asking me about making a comeback. All I can say is that it is very flattering to hear those words," Warne wrote in the Telegraph, a British newspaper.

Australia have to explore all options

Image: Ricky Ponting

The legspinner instead plumped for Michael Beer, an untried state cricketer, for his left-arm spin and local knowledge of Perth's WACA ground, where Australia will hope to peg back the 1-0 series deficit in the third Test next week.

"Sometimes horses for courses works. Australia have to explore all options and win this next match to get back in this series," Warne said.

Warne could be coaxed back out of retirement, but would need to be handed the captaincy, Fitzsimons said.

"I say, OK. Ricky Ponting, we love you and thanks, but it just isn't working ... In desperate straits, we need to not only roll the dice, but go to the man who has rolled the dice for a living, even in his downtime," he said.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.