da fezbet： LONDON – Shane Warne, one of the great tormentors of England, is prepared toplay second fiddle to Australia’s fearsome pace attack during the Ashesdespite having “the wood” on three key batsmen
Will Swanton04-Jun-2001LONDON – Shane Warne, one of the great tormentors of England, is prepared toplay second fiddle to Australia’s fearsome pace attack during the Ashesdespite having “the wood” on three key batsmen.Warne, hammered by India on his last Test excursion, made an encouragingstart to the English summer by taking 2-38 and 1-34, and belting 68 and41no, as Australia routed Worcestershire by 360 runs.Sir Donald Bradman used to step off the boat in the 1930s and warm up forthe Ashes by blasting double-hundreds against Worcestershire, andAustralia’s team effort was similarly imposing at the quaint New Roadground.Runs and wickets were shared around, but man-of-the-match Damien Martyn (108and 28) and Glenn McGrath (3-31 and 4-31) were the most impressive.The tourists boarded the team bus, which four years ago became bogged in thecar park adjacent to Worcester Cathedral, and drove to London ahead of theone-day match against Middlesex at Lord’s on Tuesday.Australia, England and Pakistan contest a limited overs tournament thismonth but cricket followers here are already preoccupied with the loomingAshes battle.Speedsters Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee hold the key toAustralia’s fortunes but three of the big English dangers – Graham Thorpe,Alec Stewart and captain Nasser Hussain – have nightmarish memories ofWarne.He has dismissed Thorpe and Stewart more often than he has any other Testbatsmen – nine times each – while Hussain and Atherton have fallen to Warneeight and seven times respectively.”I think there’s a few scars – Nasser Hussain, Stewart, Thorpe – those threeguys who are the main three now, I think I’ve got the wood on those guys,”said Warne, who has 376 Test wickets.”I’m interested in how they come out in the Test series and one-day series,whether they’re going to try and take me on, which they’ve tried in the pastand it hasn’t worked, or try to survive, which hasn’t worked.”That’s if I get a bowl to them.”If the three quicks have their way, I mightn’t have much of a job to do,just tie up an end and get through the overs as quickly as I can so thequicks can have a bowl.”Australian captain Steve Waugh has grown fond of bucking Test tradition bybowling first to let his pacemen loose and Warne believed McGrath, Gillespieand Lee would get the majority of overs.It’s a far cry from the Mark Taylor era when Warne carried the attack andsingle-handedly won too many Tests to mention.”It’s a change of tact and rightly so with the three quicks – I’ve just gotto fit in and do my job as part of the team,” said Warne.”As I’ve always said in my career, my job has been to pick up those crucialone or two wickets and that’s what I’m looking to do this tour, hopefullybreak a few partnerships in the Test series.”The first few one-dayers and the first few Tests I like to think I’ll bepart of that and be an important member of the team – first slip to thequicks, batting at No.8 with Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) at seven – they’re goingto be pretty important roles.”Then with the bowling, with the three quicks pounding them hopefully and mecoming on behind them … it’s something I have to come to terms with andadapt to.”England has won four Test series in a row but Australia has prevailed inevery Ashes encounter since 1989, and both sides are remarkably similar towhen Australia won 3-2 in 1997.”For all of us it’s pretty crucial just to bring up a few old scars againstthem, they’re the same guys we’ve been playing for 10 years, so they knowhow we bowl and we know how they bat,” said Warne.”We need to go bang-bang straight away with a few of their guys thinking ‘ohjeez, what’s happening here’.”Then they’ll start thinking and it will bring out a few of the deepthoughts that they’re trying to forget about at the moment.”Warne has taken 87 wickets in 18 Tests against England at 24.29, with acareer-best haul of 8-71 at the Gabba in 1994/95.Australia’s leading Test wicket-taker, who needs seven more to join formerEngland all-rounder Ian Botham in sixth on the all-time list, wasunconcerned by question marks over his form.”This tour I don’t feel I’m under the pump or anything like that, certainpeople think I am but I don’t think I am,” he said.