Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne has laughed off speculation that he could be England’s next coach but admitted he had received a tongue-in-cheek approach from former captain Kevin Pietersen.
With English cricket reeling from this week’s resignation of Pietersen and the sacking of coach Peter Moores, Warne was quick to distance himself from the situation.
”According to some reports, I am in the frame to follow Peter Moores. This is a good opportunity to set the record straight,” he wrote in the British daily the Times on Friday.
”I could not give a full-time position the time required to do the job properly. In any case, following a team around the world is what I have given up. If that is what I wanted, I would still be a player.
”But — and we all have this ‘but’ in life — if an offer comes that sounds too good to be true, I would have to stop and think.”
The 39-year-old said he had not taken Pietersen’s approach via text message seriously and turned it down.
”Yes, KP dipped his toe in the water jokingly,” wrote Warne, who captained Pietersen at Hampshire.
Warne, who retired from international cricket two years ago after taking 708 wickets in 145 tests, said that Pietersen should have been given more support by players and selectors.
”The balance between captain and coach should be simple; the captain runs the show and the coach is there in the background,” wrote Warne, who retired from first-class cricket last March.
”There should have been more support for KP. I believe he should have stayed and Moores gone.”
Andrew Strauss has been appointed to captain the test team and English selectors were meeting on Friday to discuss the squad and captain for their one-day and Twenty20 games against West Indies. – Reuters