Sydney, March 8 | Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that veteran spinner Shane Warne could have turned England’s fortunes if he had given him a chance to coach old rivals.
The 52-year-old Warne, who died on March 4 on Thailand’s Koh Samui island after suffering a suspected heart attack, admitted to close friends before his death that he had ambitions to coach England.
“I want to do it, it’s a great time to coach England. I think I’ll do a great job,” Warne said on the Sky Sports cricket podcast last month.
Ponting, however, had not heard of Warne’s ambitions but said that he would have become a great coach if he had been given the opportunity to coach the England team.
“He would have made a great coach. He (didn’t talk to me about it) because I would have tried to talk to him too early,” the former Australia captain told the ICC website.
“I think he had a very good idea of things to talk about and not talk to me. I know he did something in The Hundred (with the London Spirit), but as someone like Shane Warne. It would have been a great job to have handled the England cricket team now,” he said.
Ponting said it is imperative to carry on Warne’s legacy as one of the sharpest cricketing minds the game has ever produced.
“He is a huge loss to the world game, whether he has done some coaching or just the insight he has given through his commentary, we are all going to miss him. “It is up to us now that we are here and have enough passion for the game to carry on Shane’s legacy,” Ponting said.
Source: IANS