Former Australia cricket captain Mark Taylor has laughed away Shane Warne’s revelation that he wants to be England’s new head coach.
Taylor chuckled as he questioned if the leg-spinning legend really wanted to take on the gruelling year-round commitment, while adding “some of us want to go fishing” and “Warney probably wants to play a few games of cards”.
England are on the search for a new head coach after Chris Silverwood stepped down in the wake of the 4-0 Ashes demolition. England batting great Paul Collingwood will serve as interim head coach for the team’s three-Test tour of the West Indies, beginning on March 8.
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Warne made the head-spinning claim that he wanted the top job when asked by former England captain Nasser Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast if he’d make for a good coach.
“Yeah, I think I’d do a pretty good job,” Warne replied.
“I think there’s a lot to work with, but I wouldn’t be called the coach. I think I’d be called team manager.”
Warne confirmed that he wanted the job when pressed by Hussain.
“I’d like to do it,” Warne said.
“There’s so many good players in England, you’ve got a lot of depth. You’ve just got to get some of the basics right: your catching, you can’t bowl no-balls and drop so many catches. You’ve got the players, they’re just not performing. And the question is ‘Why?’.
“I look at domestic cricket in England, I’ve seen a lot of England cricketers develop, you’ve got a lot of depth. But England just aren’t performing in the Test arena.”
2GB Wide World of Sports radio host Bill Woods asked Taylor if in making those comments Warne was “having a bit of fun”.
“No, not Shane, he wouldn’t be like that!” Taylor laughed.
“I can’t see Warney coaching England. I can’t see Warney coaching too many sides that would take 12 months (of the year) to do it.
“Look, if he wanted to do it, put his hand up, good luck to him.
“But I would be very surprised to see Shane Warne coach England. They’re full-time jobs, they take you away from home, they take you away from life.
“When you get to our age – and Warney’s not quite as old as me. But some of us want to go fishing down in Tasmania, and I’m sure Warney probably wants to play a few games of cards and enjoy life.
“I’m not sure he wants to be coaching for 12 months of the year.”
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