Shane Warne talks about upcoming Ashes Tournament between England and Australia
Shane Warne belongs to the golden era of Australian cricket. He is undoubtedly regarded as the world’s best bowler in cricketing history. Shane Warne has a lot of Ashes experience. During his tenure, Australia remained the Ashes tournament favourites. Shane Warne believes that the 2010 Ashes will be a nail-biting contest between cricket’s biggest rivals. England will tour Australia in hopes of achieving a feat that only one country has attained in last two decades; to beat Australia in their home ground.
Even during the five match One-Day series, mostly comparison was made for the Ashes. Despite being a different format, pundits believed the winning team would carry momentum for the Ashes clash later this year. Andrew Strauss’ men made an early impact in the series by winning the first three ODIs. Australia, playing for pride, controlled the damage and won the last two matches in an impressive fashion. Overall, England won the series but Australia managed a respectable 3-2 loss.
Shane Warne, while talking to a private website, stated that both sides are equally poised and it’s hard to pick a winner. He believes if England can continue their good from, they have a real chance of beating Australia in their home country. He said "I think 3-2 is a pretty true reflection of both sides, I don't think that either team, England or Australia, is dominant right now”. He further added that cricket is very competitive between top ranked teams. “In years gone by, you used to think Australia would win, but that England might have a chance if they played really well. Now you think that England can win, but both sides are really even. And that's the case in world cricket. The top three or four sides are all very even,” said Warne.
Warne played his last Ashes series in 2006-07 in Australia. The cricketer ended his career by handing a whitewash to the English team, as Australia won that series by 5-0. Those were the good old day of Australian cricket. After that series, some legends of the game said goodbye to the sport we all love. The great Glenn McGrath, dependable Justin Langer, hard-hitting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918 and Matthew Hayden bowed out of the game after the final match in Sydney. Only Ricky Ponting from that golden era is with the current squad. Australia is currently going through a transitional period in which new players are replacing the old ones. Shane Warne believes that most Australian players are new to test cricket with an experience of 15 or 20 test matches. Youngsters are finding their feet in International cricket and are quickly adapting to their prescribed roles. The Wisden Cricketer of the decade thinks that England is at their very best, with some exceptional performances in the recent past. He also admits that it will be a challenging task for English players to perform in Australia.
England and Australia always play competitive cricket since the stakes are high. Warne labelled Ashes as the biggest series of the world. He agreed that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 offers a lot with regards to money and publicity but when it comes to Ashes, there is no competition whatsoever. He added that both teams are hungry for victory, and based on history and their age-old rivalry, both teams will go all out for Ashes glory.
A lot of debate and discussion is taking place with regards to Australian pacer Shaun Tait. The second bowler to reach 100mph decided to retire from Test cricket. Captain Ricky Ponting wants him back in the team, while Warne believes Tait will stick to his decision and chances are that Australia will have to cope without Shaun Tait.
Shaun Tait, despite his inclusion in World T20, has not played any ODI since early last year. Warne believes Shaun Tait had some captains who did not understand and appreciate his striking and aggressive bowling. Warne thinks Tait should be used tactfully since he is a fast bowler and not a workhorse. "He's the fastest bowler in the world, but I think he understands his body now. He's realized he can do what he does now and his body will last, but if he pushes it any more something might give."
Shane Warne spoke very high of Steven Smith, the new young Australian spinner. Warne sees potential in Smith and predicts that he is on the verge of making a test debut. Smith is young and is in a developing phase, and is far from a final product, but has all necessary ingredients of a quality cricketer. “He's good in the field and a good batsman as well, and he gives http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 a lot of variety in their attack. I wouldn't be surprised if Australia play two spinners in every Test in Australia this year.”
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