Warne says spinners need more state support

Shane Warne believes state captains need a greater understanding of spinners to lift the nation's slow-bowling stocks. Australia have struggled to find a full-time replacement for Warne since he retired in 2007, with Nathan Hauritz the current No. 1, although he is not guaranteed to play in every Test.

"From where I stand, and I'm obviously very passionate about spin bowling, I think one of the biggest things that we're lacking in Australia at the moment is the captaincy of spinners at domestic level," Warne said in the Sunday Herald Sun. One of Warne's roles is a Cricket Australia ambassador for spin bowling and he is trying to fix the problem, which was shown last week by figures revealing slow men are delivering fewer overs in the Sheffield Shield.

"I go around to all the states and work with the captains and spinners about how to captain and set fields, encourage the spinners technically as well," he said. "We've got some really good spinners, but I think there's too much concern at the moment about being economical. They want to bowl 20 overs and get 1 for 50 - not go for any runs. I'd much rather see 4 for 100. The emphasis seems to be restricting runs rather than being attacking."

Warne called for the thinking of both captains and coaches to change. "That's the biggest problem we've got, that they don't understand the game," he said. "So the spinners have to take more responsibility to understand their own fields."

Chris Simpson, the Queensland captain, is an offspinner and Cameron White bowls legbreaks for Victoria, while Dan Marsh, a left-arm orthodox, has relinquished the role at Tasmania. Last summer Simpson and Hauritz were the leading spinners in the Sheffield Shield with 16 wickets each, with Simpson averaging 41.68 a wicket and Hauritz 35.25.

While Warne believes the leaders of the state teams need to act, he doesn't think the selectors are to blame after trialling five spinners since Stuart MacGill's retirement. "To be fair to the selectors, no one's grabbed the spot with two hands," he said. "You can't blame the selectors for trying out all the different people to find out what the best role is - a defensive spinner or an attacking spinner."