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Warne comeback chances played down by official
By
May 20, 2008, 13:43

Speculation of Shane Warne’s possible return from retirement in the 2009 Ashes series in England was on Tuesday rubbished by Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland.

Warne, currently leading the table-topping Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, reacted to a question by a media person by refusing to rule out a return to Test cricket after he quit in January 2007 to spend more time with his family.

Warne said Monday: “If Stuey (Stuart) MacGill fell over and broke his leg, and there were no other spinners around, and Ricky came out and said, ‘Mate, can you please help us out for this one-off tour? We need you’, that is something I would weigh up’.”

But Sutherland was too clever to allow himself to be caught up in the Warne comeback hysteria and painted a very realistic picture to anybody hoping it might happen.

“I've been in cricket long enough not to be surprised of any headlines that Warnie grabs,” Sutherland told reporters with a smile.

“The simple answer to that is that Shane is retired from international cricket and has been for 15 months or so. I acknowledge there has been speculation in the newspapers, but the reality is that Shane is retired and not available for selection. 

“It is up to him if he wants to make himself available and that is something only he can decide. I haven't spoken to him.”

On whether Warne was still good to earn a recall after taking a former world record 708 wickets in his Test career, Sutherland also played a straight bat.

“I'm not a selector, they make decisions in the best interests of Australia cricket,” the official added. “They choose the best Australian cricket team based on those players that are available at the time. It's not for me to be determining what the Australian cricket team needs.”

Australia are currently touring West Indies, where they will play the first of three Tests on Thursday.