Warne makes appointment with 'spin doctor'

SYDNEY—Shane Warne is lining up for a pre-Ashes refresher with his spin bowling mentor Terry Jenner ahead of November's first Test in Brisbane. Warne is expected to reunite with Jenner, a former Australia legspinner, for a private net session in Adelaide later this month, when the Victorian team plays a Pura Cup match against South Australia.
Warne, 37, might have taken 685 wickets, but he still relies on irregular sessions with the "spin doctor". "He will be here in Adelaide for the [Pura Cup] game and I would be surprised if we didn't catch up," Jenner told Melbourne's The Age. "It will be the normal, routine health and safety check we have. We did it before the Lord's Test last year, which I think was of great benefit to him.
"He doesn't like me talking about it, so I don't. It's theoretically two good mates talking things over, except we do it in the nets."
Jenner, who is coming to the end of a contract with the ECB to work with the country's young spinners, said if Warne could reproduce his figures from last year's Ashes series, Australia would win the series 5-0. Warne captured 40 wickets in the five Tests of last year's series in England at 19.92.
"They can attack him all they like," he said. "He would like that." Jenner believes England's new spinning sensation Monty Panesar will struggle in the Australian conditions. While Jenner is a big fan of Panesar, he expects him to mesmerise the crowds more than the batsmen.
He said left-arm orthodox spinners generally struggled in Australia and predicted Panesar would depend on England dragging the Tests into a fifth day. "He's a beautiful craftsman, delightful to watch," Jenner said. "He's very level-headed, and a revelation really for the England spinners. But unless we provide [favourable] conditions for him, it's going to be a hard slog for him.
"Generally, the pitches are extremely hard, and the legspinner, who by means of release gets a lot of additional bounce, is more successful than the offspinner who doesn't gain the same amount of bounce. If Panesar gets a crack on a fifth day, he will be very dangerous, but it's getting to the fifth day that's the key. You've got to get that far into the match."
Panesar, who has become a cult figure in England and taken 32 wickets in his first 10 Tests, is vying with Ashley Giles for the spinner's spot in the team.
—Agencies