Warne hits back at Hughes, says has no respect for him

Sydney, Oct 12 (UNI) After Kim Hughes felt it would be an ''embarrassment'' if Shane Warne is made the skipper, the flamboyant leggie hit back with vengeance and said he has no respect for the former Australia captain.

Hughes had accused Warne of undermining team spirit and said he would have been an ''embarrassment'' as a captain in a recent interview.

Not taking it lying down, Warne responded by saying that Hughes is a former player with no currency.

''I was disappointed with his comments but I didn't take them to heart because he's not someone I respect,'' Warne told The Courier Mail.

''If it was someone I respected and really liked, I would be pretty annoyed and would take it up with them. If it was a Richie Benaud or an Ian Chappell, who has been the biggest influence on my career, I would be on the phone and disappointed and upset by it,'' the leggie said.

Hughes was not amused by Warne's criticism of coach John Buchanan's boot-camp programme and was irked with the blond spinner's observation that Buchanan's job was quite irrelevant in the side.

Hughes felt Warne's outburst against the coach had ''shown a complete disregard for the position that Buchanan has held''.

Meanwhile, Warne claimed that his reported comments on Buchanan were misunderstood.

''It was never a personal attack on John Buchanan. All I said was some of his methods and some of the ways he goes about things I thought lacked a bit of common sense -- not him as a person.

''It was never with malice,'' he added.

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