Stop whinging and play, Warne tells Poms

Former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne has challenged England to stop whinging and play.

Melbourne, Feb.19 : Former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne has challenged England to stop whinging and play.

Warne said he was tired of England players "shooting their mouths off'' about what a great side they were since their 2005 series victory and "sick of excuses'' surrounding their subsequent form slump.

"All I can hear is excuses, 'we haven't got this player, we haven't got that player. They've just got to stop the excuses, forget 2005, just get on with it," The Daily Telegraph quoted Warne, as saying.

"We want England at their best, we want Australia at their best when the Ashes come up, but there's a lot of cricket in between ... I think they get too wrapped up in the Ashes,'' he added.

He was speaking before attending the Laureus World Sports Awards in St Petersburg as a guest.

Warne also confirmed his commitment to captaining English county side Hampshire for the final year of his contract, despite missing a large part of the 2008 season through his involvement in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) and spending one week in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker.

He and club chairman Rod Bransgrove met on Friday to finalise an agreement, under which Warne will play the last "seven or eight championship games''.

ANI