Kent's attitude leaves Warne frustrated

Shane Warne, Hampshire's captain, made clear his frustration over Kent's lack of co-operation on the final day of the Championship match at The Rose Bowl.

Warne, who is one of the most adventurous county captains, tried to agree a fourth-innings target with Robert Key after rain affected the first two days of the game.

"There was a little bit of haggling going on but Keysy didn't want to know," said Warne. "We got down to 240 off 65 overs, but they still weren't interested at all. If I was offered that I'd take it everywhere in the world - no matter what the ground was like - and there was a kiddies' boundary out there as well."

In the end, Kent were left a far-from-demanding 225 in 48 overs after Warne declared Hampshire's second innings on 176 for 6. That target was not agreed between the captains. In the end, bad light brought an early end to the match.

Warne, however, was clearly irked. "I was disappointed that Kent weren't really interested in anything - they wanted 60 overs to get 200. I thought we were the only side that really wanted to win the game. Right from ball one I thought they came here with the mentality, their body language and everything, to be very negative about the whole thing. I think they just wanted to come here and basically not lose."

This is not the first time that Warne has been less than impressed with Kent. Last September, he accused David Fulton, Key's predecessor, of effectively handing Nottinghamshire the Championship title by agreeing to chase 420 at more than six an over. Nottinghamshire won the game, and with it the title, whereas any other result would have set up a decider against Hampshire.