Shane Warne SYDNEY — Shane Warne says he will unveil his own blueprint for the future of Australian cricket within 24 hours after a Twitter rant in which he described current high-performance managers as “muppets.” In a further series of Twitter posts Tuesday, the veteran leg-spinner said Australian cricket is in disarray and called for the appointment of former cricketers to decision-making roles. Warne appeared to be referring to Cricket Australia's current high performance manager, former Australia rugby international Pat Howard, when he made his criticisms. Warne said cricketers should be running the sport in Australia “not ex-rugby or any other sportspeople. Please, seriously.” In his most recent posts Tuesday, Warne indicated he was prepared to back rhetoric with action. “If interested, I will give my opinion and write an in-depth article on the state of Australian cricket and suggest who I think should be running the team and selecting the team,” Warne said. “My opinion only and I will post it in the next 24 hours on my website. I have not spoken to anyone I suggest for these roles. It's just my opinion as I think all of us who love Australian cricket have had enough. “Australian cricket is in disarray and in my opinion people are hoping Australian cricket will turn around the lack of a plan and a cricket strategy.” Warne believed an important first step was to have former top cricketers in key high-performance roles. “As I said last night, we need cricket people running the team and who understand cricket and what's required at the top level, not muppets,” Warne said. “I am speaking as a frustrated Australian cricket team supporter and want what's best for Australian cricket. Give me 24 hours to write a piece.” Current Australia allrounder Shane Watson said Warne's comments may have arisen from his frustration with fines and other sanctions he received in recent weeks in the Twenty20 Big Bash competition. “Warney's got a few issues with the hierarchy at the moment with some of the things that happened during the Big Bash,” Watson said. “There's no doubt the people who are involved in Cricket Australia are certainly trying to do the best job that they possibly can and are trying to support the players as much as they possibly can.” Board plays it straight Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland has defended the organization following a scathing attack by Shane Warne. Sutherland added that he was prepared to meet with Warne and discuss the 43-year-old's criticism of CA's player rotation policy and his claim that “rubbish” decisions were turning Australian cricket into a “big joke”. “I have every confidence in Pat Howard and his team, and what they're doing,” Sutherland told local media Tuesday. “Personally I find it a little bit disappointing to read about that (Warne's criticisms) in the fashion that I have. “Ideally you'd like to be able to sit down with Shane and understand a little bit more deeply his opinions.” — Agencies
