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Warne backtracks on comments

Shane Warne has furiously backtracked from reported criticism of John Buchanan

AFP
16-Sep-2006


Shane Warne: quick to claim his comments were taken out of context © Getty Images
Shane Warne has furiously backtracked from reported criticism of John Buchanan, Australia's coach, saying he was "shocked" at the way he claimed his words had been taken out of context.
Following a press conference on Thursday, Warne was quoted as saying Buchanan deserved few plaudits for Australia's world cricket domination. He also reportedly suggested the team didn't need a coach at all.
It prompted urgent voicemail messages for an explanation from Buchanan and Ricky Ponting. Warne, in England, called Buchanan on Friday evening at his hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where Australia are playing the triangular series with India and West Indies.
"Shane said he was shocked at the way he said his comments had been taken out of context," a Cricket Australia official, who took part in the 10-minute phone conversation, told AFP. "He explained that the report did not represent his views. He said he is very committed to team solidarity. It was an amicable call and the team now moves on."
Warne was quoted as saying that in his eyes the coach was simply something you travelled on to a match. "He has been our coach during a successful era but that begs a question - does the coach make the team or does the team make the coach?" he said.
"You need some sort of team manager more than a coach like we have at Hampshire with Paul Terry, where the captain runs the team and the manager sorts out everything else.
"International players know how to play. You dont need a coach getting too technical. You can forget that you just need to bowl the ball."
Warne, who has previously had a strained relationship with Buchanan, no longer plays one-day cricket for Australia but remains their key bowler in Tests.
Last month he called for Australia's next coach to be a more experienced ex-player, in place of Buchanan who had a modest record at state level for Queensland and struggled in his time as Middlesex coach in English county cricket.