Warne cool over Hampshire rumours

Shane Warne has played down speculation he could be in line for a return to Hampshire in a coaching capacity.

The former Australian spin bowler was Hampshire captain for three years but told BBC Sport he had no plans to return to the Rose Bowl at the moment.

"It's news to me, I'll have to speak to (Hampshire chairman) Rod (Bransgrove) about that," he said.

"It depends on time, I've got a pretty full plate at the moment with things I'm doing."

"There are encouraging signs but I wouldn't get too excited yet"
Shane Warne on England

Giles White has been named as Hampshire's new team manager, and they have also approached former England coach Duncan Fletcher about taking up an advisory role.

But Warne seemed uncertain that there was much at Hampshire that was in need of change, and questioned how motivated Fletcher would be by the role.

"Hampshire are in a pretty good space," he said.

"They were struggling halfway through the season but fought back and showed their class to come back and end up third - I don't think it needs to be shaken up too much.

"If Duncan has something to offer that's good. He definitely did a good job with England, whether he has the motivation to do with Hampshire - we'll find out."

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"Fletcher coming in is an excellent move. After the end of last season, its clear that we're not far away from winning trophies on a lot of fronts"
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Warne will be absent from the Australia side when they come to England to defend the Ashes in 2009, and he expressed caution over the team's feel-good factor under new captain Kevin Pietersen, his former Hampshire team-mate.

"There are encouraging signs but I wouldn't get too excited yet," he said.

"Hopefully they'll win a few more series and get some momentum for the Ashes.

"At the moment they're playing OK in one day cricket and have won one Test. It's pretty hard to get too excited about that when it was a dead rubber, but it's better than losing."

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