Take the game 'by the scruff of the neck': Warne

Australian spin great Shane Warne feels Ricky Ponting's men should inculcate the killer instinct and take the game "by the scruff of the neck" to overcome the transitional problems they are struggling with.

Australian spin great Shane Warne feels Ricky Ponting's men should inculcate the killer instinct and take the game "by the scruff of the neck" to overcome the transitional problems they are struggling with.

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"The team need time to jell together, so that they can win the flag. I just think these players need to stand up. They're playing OK, and they're all doing OK, but they need to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, take it to the next level," Warne was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.

"Have we got the right players involved who can do that? Are those players batting in the right spots? Are they being tactically challenged enough? Are we putting them in a situation where they work out how to win a game, how to bowl sides out, how to chase down a big target?

"Has the team had all of those things that help you improve? You only get exposed to that over a bit of time, so over a little bit more time we'll really see where these players are at," he said.

The retirements of Warne himself, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer over the last three years has seen Australia's dominance in world cricket fading away.

But the former leg-spinner said even though Australia is going through a transitional phase, it remained one of the best three Test sides in the world.