Warne ready to let his cricket do the talking

Even by Shane Warne's soap-operatic standards, this past month has been turbulent in the extreme. Another sordid tabloid exposé led directly to the break-up of his ten-year marriage, surely the worst-possible preparation for the intensity and emotions of an Ashes series. And yet, for all his off-pitch problems, Warne was adamant that he could put the bad thoughts to one side and raise his game to another level for the challenges ahead.

"I'm pretty keen and anxious to get into the Tests," Warne told a press conference at the Australian team hotel in South-West London. "Obviously this has been a difficult period of my life, but I've just got to deal with it and get on. I've been having my good days and bad days, and some days it can be hard to move on, but there's really nothing more I can do. I just hope to enjoy the series and make it one of my best ever."

Warne and controversy go together like Lord's and Australian Test victories, but now, in the twilight of his career and with nothing left to hide either on or off the pitch, he was in particularly candid mood. "I couldn't give a rat's **** what people think of me or say," he said. "Everyone's had an opinion, and I've loaded the bullets on a few occasions, but unfortunately we live in a society that's pretty judgmental about what you do in your life."

That is as true for Warne's cricket as it has been for his private life, but his attitude to both is phlegmatic. "My bowling is how it is," he shrugged. "It's different from how it was when I first started, different from what it was five years into my career, and different again from four years ago.

"In the old days we used to bat first every time and I'd get to bowl into the fifth-day footmarks. These days there aren't so many five-day Tests, so there's not as much spin on offer. Plus we often bowl first these days, so I need other ways to get wickets on first-day pitches. That's where I think I've improved, I've learned to adapt a bit better, and seeing as I've just had one of my best years ever, I think I'm going okay."

Warne, however, wasn't deluding himself as to the ravages of time, and has had operations on his right shoulder, spinning finger and left knee as testament to his 15 years at the top. "Physically, it would be impossible for me to still be at my absolute peak," he admitted. "There aren't many days when something isn't hurting, but I feel as fresh as a nearly-36-year-old can feel. When you get to this age it's all about management, you can't go to the nets and bowl hour after hour after hour - you have to save as much as you can for the games.

"But after every game I've played, someone has either said: 'he's not as good as he was' or 'he's getting better with age'. That opinion changes no matter what, so all you can go on is results, and in the last year as successful as at any stage. Whether I'm a better bowler or not, who knows? I guess you'd have to ask the batsmen that, not the people watching."

With three Ashes tours and six consecutive series wins to his name, Warne accepted that he would not be seen again in a baggy green in England. "I'm not going to be around in four years' time," he said. "It's sad in a way, but it's also very enjoyable because for the first time in eight series, I honestly believe England have got a chance.

"They've got two matchwinners in [Andrew] Flintoff and [Steve] Harmison and, if Kevin Pietersen takes to Test cricket like he has done in one-dayers, then he could be phenomenal. It's a brave decision and good one from the England selectors, because he's the most dangerous player in England."

But overall, Warne was in a reflective mood, and accepted that this series would prove to be one of his greatest challenges, for more than just the cricketing reasons. "We've got five Tests in eight weeks and human nature is bound to take over for periods," he admitted. "Looking back over the years it's generally been the case that the tougher the situation the better I respond.

"But nothing like this has ever happened in my life before, and I have to deal with as best I can. It's not the way I wanted it to be, but I've just got to concentrate on my cricket and be there for the guys, because at the end of the day, that's my job and, much as I see it as a hobby and a passion and a love, I have to turn up no matter what."