November 16, 2006	Thursday	Shawwal 23, 1427

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SYDNEY, Nov 15: Shane Warne has dismissed as "rubbish" claims that Australia were too friendly with England during last year's Ashes series. Warne said it was ridiculous to believe his friendship with Hampshire team-mate Kevin Pietersen would affect the aggression he displayed on the ground.

"I think it's a load of rubbish," Warne told the Herald Sun. "I haven't been too friendly when I have played Test cricket for 15 years. That's well and truly been documented. I wasn't very friendly, but I showed sportsmanship.

"When I took my 600th wicket at Old Trafford, Michael Vaughan came up and shook my hand when we were in the middle of our huddle. Andrew Flintoff came over to Brett Lee after we had just lost by two runs and said: 'Well done, it was great, it was courage'. "I walked up to Kevin Pietersen on 150 and shook his hand and said to him: 'Make sure you remember that and how it feels right now. It was a great knock'. When someone played well and scored a good hundred, we shook hands and clapped. I don't see the big deal in that."

Warne, who picked up 40 wickets in the series at an average of 19.92, said displays of sportsmanship and the fact the Australians enjoyed having a drink with Andrew Flintoff would never affect their on-field efforts. "Out in the middle during play, there was gamesmanship, there was sledging, there was funny stuff," he said.

"I think you could tell by the way the teams played. It was pretty high-standard cricket and that's why everyone liked it."—Agencies