Warne thrilled at prospect of MCG milestone

Shane Warne said taking his 700th Test wicket at his home ground would be the perfect way to celebrate the achievement. He does not care who the unlucky batsman is at the MCG but acknowledged the feat is not a done deal just yet.

"For me, whoever writes my scripts, the opportunity to get 700 in my home town..." Warne told The Australian, before adding "hopefully I can get one wicket for the game". His mentor Terry Jenner said in The Age that he believed Warne would bring up the landmark by trapping Ian Bell lbw.

But Warne said it did not matter who the victim was. "I don't care if it's Monty Panesar," he said. "To celebrate that Test in front of your home crowd, your friends, your family, it's just a wonderful opportunity. It's sold out for the first few days, 100,000 people every day."

Warne was the latest Australia player to emphasise the desire to win 5-0 and he said keeping Andrew Flintoff out of form was vital. "We know what a special player Freddie is and the impact he can have on his side," Warne told the Herald Sun. "So it was important not to give him a bit of a sniff with either bat or the ball.

"One of the key things of our side is to keep the opposition captain down. I feel for him. He's got a big burden with everything on his shoulders. He probably hasn't had the series he would have liked, but I still think it's the right decision that he's captain now [Michael] Vaughan is not there."