Warne denies Waugh concern

Shane Warne has dismissed comments from Mark Waugh, his former Test team-mate, that he is well past his peak. Waugh wrote in his newspaper column that Warne currently relied on "accuracy, subtle variation and reputation", but Warne believes his role has changed.

"Mark's a good friend of mine," Warne told AAP. "He's got to make a quid somehow. If that's what he thinks, that's what he thinks. I look back at my statistics over the past 25 or 30 Test matches with the bat and ball and catching - it's been better than any period of my career."

Warne said he was bowling more on the first three days and was not getting the big-spinning conditions. "Mark Taylor and Allan Border used to always bat first so I could bowl last on day-four-and-five pitches," he said. "We're not getting to those last-session-on-day-five pitches when it starts to turn miles, so I'm not going to turn the ball as far."

Waugh wrote in his Sunday Age column that while Glenn McGrath was "as good as ever", Warne's performance had slipped over the past five to ten years. "He's still very good," he said, "but he relies more on accuracy, subtle variations and reputation these days than on vicious, ripping legbreaks and unplayable flippers."