Warne wants to stage Ashes comeback

Kolkata, May 20 (UNI) Despite announcing his retirement from the international arena last year, leg-spin legend Shane Warne has expressed his desire of staging one last hurrah at the Ashes series next summer.

''If Australia really needed me and there was no one else around and Ricky (Ponting) thought I could do the job, you would weigh up the options,'' Warne told mediapersons here ahead of an Indian Premier League (IPL) match against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

''If I wanted to keep playing I don't think there is an issue with me being the No 1 spinner and performing,'' he added.

The 38-year-old leg-spinner retired at the end of the 2006-07 Ashes series and Australia are still struggling to fill the void left by a man who took a total of 63 wickets in the last two Ashes series.

The reigning World Champions struggled to overcome a strong Indian challenge during the ill-tempered home series earlier this year.

Warne asserted he can still return to the Australian team if current spinner Stuart MacGill picks up an injury.

''If Stuey MacGill fell over and broke his leg, and there were no other spinners around, and Ricky came out and said, 'Mate, can you please help us out for this one-off tour? We need you', that is something I would weigh up,'' he said.

Warne has been in superb form in the ongoing IPL, taking 14 wickets at an average of 18.78.

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