Warne's return

[Donny]

Spin king's hectic return

By Michael Horan Fox Sports


SHANE Warne faces 10 days of mayhem in a desperate bid to rejoin the Australian cricket team when his one-year ban ends next month.

Warne's year off for taking banned diuretics will end in a desperate flurry of activity from the moment his suspension expires on February 10.

On that day, Warne will step out for the last three days of the Victorian second XI's four-day match at the Junction Oval against Queensland.

Despite the match starting the day before his ban ends, the Bushrangers will select Warne, who will sit out the first day, to enable him to press for selection on Australia's tour of Sri Lanka as quickly as possible.

His whirlwind return also features an ING Cup match against Tasmania on February 14 and a Pura Cup game, both at the MCG, against the Tigers on February 16-19.

Australia's first one-dayer in Sri Lanka is on February 20.

There is a chance Warne could become an unofficial member of the one-day squad if his form warrants Test selection.

Warne appears certain to be rushed back into the Test squad for the Sri Lanka series – which begins on March 8 – after fellow leg-spinner Stuart MacGill failed to make an impression in the recent Test series against India.

Cricket Victoria considered asking Cricket Australia to change the dates of the second XI match so Warne could play the full four days, but it opted to make as little fuss as possible about the star's return.

In what is sure to be the most avidly watched state seconds game in history, the Victorian and national selectors will cast a critical eye on Warne in their collective eagerness to fast track him back to first-class and international competition.

Warne declined to comment on what he thought his chances for a speedy return to the Australian team were, but made it clear he intended to give it his best shot.

"I have five weeks of intensive training involving weights, aerobics and yoga, as well as plenty of bowling, catching and batting," Warne said.

"All I can do is work as hard as I can to be ready."

The Junction Oval is a notoriously flat pitch that provides minimal turn, although it is the home ground of Warne's grade club, St Kilda.

Clearly, Warne, the second highest wicket-taker in Test history with 491 and Australia's leading one-day international wicket-taker (291), will be assessed in his return purely on how quickly he can dust off his bowling cobwebs, rather than how many wickets he takes.

There is a precedent for Warne to join the one-day squad unofficially.

On the 2001 Ashes tour, paceman Brett Lee was flown in to train with the one-day team while he recovered from surgery on a broken arm.

Even though Lee wasn't in the squad, he trained so well and healed so rapidly that he was picked for the one-day matches as well.

[Donny]

Warne must wait in line

By Robert Craddock - Fox Sports

AUSTRALIA'S selectors cannot guarantee Shane Warne he will automatically be reinstated to the national side if he reverses his decision to retire from one-day cricket.

Warne has revealed he is now reconsidering his decision to retire when his one-year suspension for taking a banned drug ends on February 10.

Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said yesterday it was Warne's prerogative to decide on his availability but there could be no promises made to him.

"Shane can do what he likes but there are no guarantees he would be chosen," Hohns said. "If he makes himself available he would take his chance.

"You have to realise the blokes who have been there over the past year have done a terrific job."

Australia feels a sense of loyalty to the players who carried the side to World Cup glory in South Africa last March.

Warne was ruled out of the tournament on the eve of the first match against Pakistan when a swab taken in Australia detected a banned diuretic.

But it is still difficult to see loyalty overshadowing quality for too long.

Australia has retained struggling left-arm spinner Brad Hogg for the opening VB Series games, despite the fact he was on the verge of being dropped by Western Australia after a modest start to the season.

Though the selectors cannot offer Warne a guarantee it would be hard to imagine him standing in a queue behind Hogg for long.

The only slight negative to Warne's case for one-day reinstatement would be his availability for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, although for the next few summers that tournament may be deemed too far away to plan for.

[JLC]

Well the line is getting shorter and shorter.

jlc

[Sultan of spin]

I don't know who Robert Craddock is trying to kid by insisting Shane won't be put straight back into the test side cos anyone who knows anything about cricket can see Australia without Warne and McGrath are only a shadow of the team when they are playing.

I think Craddock must have a personal problem with Shane cos I have seen a number of similar articles he has written about him and they are all either negative towards Warne or talking up McGill as an alternative. If this true Craddock should grow up and be a true professional and not let his personal feelings get in the way of the obvious truth.

[Donny]

Hear, hear, SoS. Well said and that's exactly what he's doing.

"Shane, you've been a naughty boy. Wait your turn !"

[The Prototype]

Warne will get back in, I doubt that Macgill has bowled good enough to keep his spot in the side. I hope the year off hasn't hurt Warne that much, hopefully he can quickly get himself into shape ready for the series in Sri Lanka.

[Blanch]

SoS is spot on in my mind. Warney is a must inclusion. As for talking up McGill.....well he does a good enough job talking himself up. Whether it's "yeah I reckon I've worked them out. I've got their measure" or "welcome to my 'how to catch really good so you'll never drop one' classes"......he's full of himself.

[Donny]

Try this one.

Whereas Warne will probably waltz back into the Oz team, how will the Bushrangers find a spot for him ?

[Donny]

Magill unflapped over India figures

Fox Sports

What, Stuart MacGill worry?

Australia's Test leg spinner, defending his performance of 14 wickets at the unflattering average of 50.79 in the series against India, claimed five victims for NSW against Victoria today then declared his intention to make the tours to Sri Lanka and India this year.

"Call me deluded, but personally I felt pretty good through the whole series," MacGill said after his 5-94 helped dismiss Victoria for 259 on day two of the Pura Cup match in Newcastle and give NSW first-innings points.

"I felt as if I bowled well to really good batsmen so it was no surprise to me today that I found rhythm pretty quickly.

"I saw in the paper I averaged 51 or something against India. It doesn't really concern me. At the beginning of the tour I decided what would be a good gauge for me was if I felt I could bowl to the best players of spin in the world. I certainly think I acquitted myself well on that front.

"I bowled for long periods of time when the guys didn't score. Maybe I didn't get them out, but to be a spin bowler and keep them quiet I think was an achievement in itself. Laxman only got out five times in the tour and I got him three times. If he's the benchmark, I'm pretty happy with myself."

Laxman was out six times, but MacGill's point remained valid.

Shane Warne returns from suspension in time for Australia's tour to Sri Lanka in February, when he and MacGill will start jostling for a Test berth.

"Everybody is saying, 'Shane's coming back, Shane's coming back,' well, for the first five or six years of my career he never went anywhere," said the 32-year-old MacGill.

"Things are back to normal from my point of view. I'm bowling really well at the moment and we're going to the sub-continent for the next two tours and I feel like I'm going to be a valuable part of the squad with Shane, without him or alongside him.

"I've never really played on the sub-continent so it's something I want to do - tick another box and move on.

"It would be upsetting to be retired and not have done those sorts of things. Test matches on the sub-continent are probably the next thing for me and if we can hang on to the Ashes next time, that would be something nice as well."

[The Prototype]

Macgill will have a tough fight on his hands to wrestle the position away from Warne. Maybe Australia will go for 2 spinners?