Warne aims for 600 at where his Ashes odyssey began

Shane Warne's Ashes career is set to come full circle when the third Test of the series starts at Old Trafford on Thursday. Twelve years ago at Old Trafford Warne's first delivery in Test cricket against England saw him dismiss Mike Gatting.

A vicious turner that pitched outside the batsman's pads before clipping the top of off-stump, the delivery was latter dubbed 'the ball of the century'. Now Warne returns to Old Trafford needing just one more wicket to become the first bowler to take 600 in Tests.

Warne is in prime form after taking 10 for 162 during England's thrilling two-run win at Edgbaston that saw them level the five-Test series at 1-1. Warne couldn't quite believe how his on-field life had panned out. "Old Trafford has been a happy hunting ground for me. It's one of my special memories in 15 years of international cricket, the Gatting ball was my first one against England.

"Whoever writes my scripts over the years, well it's quite something to be on 599 going back to Old Trafford. My parents are coming over for that Test match which has been planned for a long time. They've supported me through a lot of things in my private life."

But Warne, whose gutsy 42 on Sunday helped Australia get close to pulling off a seemingly impossible chase, said individual success would mean little unless it helped his team win a Test. "I feel good about my bowling. But to take 10-for doesn't mean anything. I took 12 for 128 against South Africa in Sydney in 1994 and we lost the Test by five runs.It means nothing in the context of things. When we all sit around at a barbecue and have a beer it won't be one I'll be taking about."

Warne said wickets had been harder to come by in recent years given that so few of Australia's games were reaching the fifth day when a wearing pitch usually offers the spinner more assistance than at any other time in the match.

"Over the last few years especially there haven't been a lot of five-day Test matches, so you're not exploiting the conditions late [in the] fourth day and fifth day," explained Warne, who also took six wickets in Australia's 239-run first Test win at Lord's last month.

"I'm bowling a lot more on day one, two and three these days so to spin the ball, as I have done at Lord's, and in this game means I must be doing something pretty right. I'm not a big stats man but my stats over the last couple of years bowling on day one, two and three, stand up to any stage in my career."

Warne found himself upstaged at Edgbaston by Andrew Flintoff's man-of-the-match winning display with both bat and ball. However Warne, who was the first Australian to congratulate the England all-rounder after bowling him for 73 in England's second innings, had nothing but admiration for Flintoff, who himself was the first member of the home side to shake Brett Lee's hand after he finished the Test on 43 not out. "I think he's a guy anyone would want in their side. It's always nice to see someone like 'Freddie' do well because he's one of the good guys of cricket."

Asked how long he might continue, Warne, who is 50 wickets ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan in the list of leading Test wicket-takers, replied: "As I've probably said 500 times, when the enjoyment stops I'll stop. At the moment the enjoyment is going pretty well. The way the Lord's Test match was played, the way England have fought back here, who wouldn't want to be involved and how can you not enjoy it?"