UNITED KINGDOM: CRICKET - Australian spin bowler Shane Warne book signing in London says Ashes will be very hard fought and close

Australian spin bowler Shane Warne said on Thursday (September 14) that his team feared no-one, but England captain Andrew Flintoff is a match winner and the Ashes beginning in November will be a "very hard-fought, close series". Beginning a book promotion day in London with a badly bruised eye from captaining Hampshire on his 37th birthday on Wednesday, Warne told Reuters: "I don't think we Australians, the Australian side, fears anyone or any team, but you know, Andrew Flintoff is a fantastic player. We've seen the way he plays the game. I think he plays the game in the right spirit. He drags -- he is an inspirational player -- he drags the rest of the team around him to perform. I'm sure he'll do an excellent job as captain, so I'm looking forward to the series." Regarding his career to date, the man widely regarded as the best spin bowler ever said: "I've been very lucky to play in a successful era of Australian cricket. I've been very fortunate to achieve things that I never thought I would achieve. So all in all, I've been very, very lucky. It's been good fun and the journey's been interesting. It's had ups and downs, but I think like anything in life, you've got to ride the ups and the downs and just try and enjoy yourself and that's what I've tried to do." Warne has had an incalculable impact on the game over the past 15 years. He is the world record holder for test wickets with 685 but, more importantly, inspired a revival in the bewitching art of wrist spin bowling at a time when the fast bowler was king. His impact was recognised by the annual Wisden almanac, which named him as one of the five best cricketers of the 20th century. Last year he scaled new heights, taking 40 wickets in the Ashes series won by England, as well as scoring useful runs and appearing at times to be playing on his own. Over the calendar year he took 96 wickets to beat compatriot Dennis Lillee's previous mark. At a news conference before Thursday's book signing, Warne said the last Ashes series was very tight and neither side would dominate in Australia. "I think it will be a very hard-fought, close series. We're tough to beat in our own conditions. I think in my time, in the series I've played in Australia, in 15 or 16 seasons in Australia, I've missed two or three and we've only lost one series and that was against the West Indies in '92 so -- and that was by a run. So it is quite difficult to beat someone in their own country, but I think the way we play in Australia, we play our conditions pretty good." Warne picked out key England players. "I think the biggest match winner is Andrew ('Freddie') Flintoff. Him and Kevin Pietersen with the bat I see as their two real danger men. With the ball, I think (Steve) Harmison set the tone in the first over, every time he bowled whether he hit someone or he got a wicket, I just think he really set the tone with his first over. "(Simon) Hoggard got early wickets with the left handers. But I think Pietersen and Flintoff with the bat, Flintoff and Harmison with the ball, are the guys to worry about. That's not to say we're not worried about (Marcus) Trescothick and (Andrew) Strauss at the top of the order and things like that as well. So I think England have got a very well balanced side. "So for the first time, they've got some aggressive match winners that they haven't had over the years. I think that, as I said, Flintoff and Pitersen with the bat can take the game away from you very quickly, so they'll be two key guys that we'll look at and work out which is the best way to bowl to those two guys -- and with the ball, Harmison and Flintoff. Let's hope they have to bowl lots of overs rather than being used as impact. Let's hope Freddie as captain wants to keep bowling them in all the time and has to bowl 20 overs straight so he gets tired," said Warne. Flintoff has yet to make a full recovery from the ankle injury which sidelined him for the four-test series against Pakistan. He is one of four players currently on the injury list who were named in a 16-man squad on Tuesday for the eagerly awaited series starting in Brisbane on November 23. The selectors are gambling that injured pace bowlers James Anderson (back) and Liam Plunkett (side), plus left-arm spinner Ashley Giles (hip) will make full recoveries before the team travels to Australia. In addition, opening batsman Marcus Trescothick will miss the ICC Champions Trophy one-day competition in India next month while he receives treatment for stress.

ITN Source | September 15, 2006

Tags:. .tired. .stress. .havent. .fortunate. .hampshire