The campaign to bring back spin king Shane Warne reached its hilt on Thursday when a group of fans offered him one million Australian dollars to make himself available for the remaining Ashes Tests.
The 41-year-old, who has taken 708 Test wickets, has been urged by Australian fans to help out the team revive from the slump. But Warne has negated any possibility of him coming out of the retirement.
The England team director, Andy Flower on the other hand, was perplexed over the spinner's prospect of being intrigued out of retirement, saying, "I would think that's a joke. Shane has retired from international cricket. I've heard how much he earns and I would have thought they would have to make a bigger contribution than that," reported Daily Mail.
Also, a website - www.bringbackwarne.com - has been launched. "We have had so much traffic that the site is currently running very slowly," said founder Ross Heywood.
"We have only raised about USD 4,000 at this stage, however, it has certainly initiated a considerable amount of debate. Will we achieve our goal of Warne playing? I think if people get behind the concept and contribute funds we have a better chance," Heywood insisted.
{{/usCountry}}"We have only raised about USD 4,000 at this stage, however, it has certainly initiated a considerable amount of debate. Will we achieve our goal of Warne playing? I think if people get behind the concept and contribute funds we have a better chance," Heywood insisted.
{{/usCountry}}But Heywood said, "The feedback has been varied. Many love the idea of seeing him play again, some have suggested it would be the wrong move for Australian cricket. We are eager to see how things evolve over the next few days."