'Pietersen remains a friend', says Warne

Sydney, Nov 30 (UNI) Laughing off the 'clash' with Kevin Pietersen during the first Ashes Test at Brisbane, Aussie spin king Shane Warne asserted that he was still friends with the English swashbuckler as the incident was nothing more than ''two blokes going for it out in the middle''.

''I just want to make one thing clear -- I am still friends with Kevin Pietersen. We know it's game-on out in the middle but there will still be sportsmanship, which there was in the first Test in Brisbane. I had a beer and bit of laugh after the game,'' Warne wrote in his column for the 'Daily Telegraph'.

''As far as 'that' clash goes with Kevin, I thought it was just two blokes going for it out in the middle, both trying as hard as we possibly can. He took offence to the throw which was fair enough. It was probably a bit too close for comfort. It was his day and he played well,'' he added.

Warne said Pietersen was the biggest threat in a fragile English batting line-up and the Aussies would be looking to unsettle the attacking right-hander in the remainder of the Ashes series.

''Kevin, as we all know, can be destructive of pace and spin when he gets on a roll.

He will be England's major player with the bat, as we all knew before the series,'' he said.

''Kevin, as far as I am concerned, was the only positive to emerge for England from the loss,'' he added.

Warne said Pietersen was the only English batsman who knew how to handle his spin and ridiculed Duncan Fletcher's comments that the defending champions were doing well against him.

''For Duncan Fletcher to come out and say, 'We thought we played Shane Warne well and that was a positive from the Test match', well, I would disagree with that because Kevin was the only one to play me well -- even though I could have had him out twice,'' he said.

Warne said he was not worried about being hit all over the park as long as Australia won the series.

''All we are worried about is winning the series. I don't care if I get 0-80 and we win. It doesn't matter if Kevin slogs me out of the park for six sixes in an over -- it's about winning and nothing else,'' he said.

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