London: Australia great Shane Warne has told England captain Alastair Cook to expect more defeats if he sticks with the “boring” approach he adopted during the 5-0 Ashes defeat in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.
A much-changed England face Sri Lanka in the first of two Tests at Lord’s on Thursday, their first Test series since they were whitewashed in Australia and the first since star batsman Kevin Pietersen, a friend of Warne, was dramatically axed from the side.
Warne said it was vital Cook stamped his authority on the England team. “England’s style of play will be a reflection of Cook’s mindset and outlook,” wrote Warne in his Wednesday column for Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“If Cook wants to stay boring and be the same old England by bowling wide of off stump and trying to build up pressure slowly then he has chosen the wrong path. It was proved in Australia that it is an approach which does not work and it will be fascinating to see if they have learnt from losing the Ashes 5-0.
“Test cricket has evolved rapidly and Cook must sense the moment.” In that context Warne said he was disappointed England had gone back to Matt Prior as their wicketkeeper rather than picking the younger Jos Buttler, who in the recent one-day series against Sri Lanka made a blistering century at Lord’s but has yet to make his Test debut.
“When you are restructuring the team why pick Prior and not Jos Buttler? He has just shown how dangerous he is with the bat with a brilliant one-day hundred so stick with him while he is on a roll.
“Going back to Prior I really believe is a backward step. I hope this is not a teacher’s, or should I say coach’s pet selection,” said Warne.
