Warne hungry for county success

Published April 15, 2004

LONDON, April 14: Shane Warne, who grabbed 26 wickets to flatten Sri Lanka last month and take his tally to 517, only two wickets behind retired West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh's world record, has set himself no targets for the English County season.

But the Hampshire captain told a scrum of press and photographers on Wednesday he would be looking for success in the English championship. "We have some talented players here - there is no excuse for not doing well, it's time for us to start delivering," the Australian great said.

"We have awod crop of players, and we have 15-16 players who are in contention for a place. "Our aim will be to play good consistent aggressive cricket, and I want to play exciting cricket and always aim to win games. We are still talking about the style and way we are going to play, but everybody is itching to get out and start on Friday."

He said his year's absence for failing a doping test had proved a blessing. "For myself the year break from the game has done me a done him a power of good, both mentally and physically - with my shoulder and fingers getting a good chance to heal and strengthen - and my bowling in Sri Lanka was as good as I have ever bowled," he said.

But he added: "I haven't set myself a goal for number of wickets for Hampshire - I don't tend to set targets." He was looking forward to helping Australian batting prodigy Michael Clarke develop. -AFP

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