Marsh insists Warne will bounce back

Warne’s overall performance prompted claims that winter surgery on his spinning finger has changed him from the most feared bowler of his time, with a startling 240 wickets from 52 Tests, to just an extremely good Test player.

But coach Geoff Marsh, who has held talks with the 27-year-old in a bid to cure his problems, is confident Warne will bounce back.

“Everyone expects Shane to bowl people out all the time,” claimed Marsh. “When we won in South Africa he came on first change and bowled magnificently on a green top in Port Elizabeth.

“I don’t think anything has changed with Shane. I think the pressure we put him under with only 118 on the board in the first innings was not enough for him but he turned it enough to suggest he will again before the end of the series.

“The wickets are slow and the opposition over the years have obviously done their homework on him because he is the best bowler in the world. I thought they played him very well in the first innings but England can write him off at their peril.”

But Warne is not the only bowler worrying Australia’s management following the first Test performances of Glenn McGrath and Michael Bevan.