Shane Warne’s voice was as bright and cheerful as if he had just taken a hattrick against India instead of two wickets in his comeback match. But if there was a twinge of regret, it was because he missed out on the chance to claim Sachin Tendulkar as his 500th Test victim.Warne, stuck on 491 wickets when his career stalled during last year’s World Cup, returned to competitive cricket on Tuesday for a Victoria Second XI game against the Queensland Academy of Sport. The countdown had been on for a couple of weeks, as if the occasion was welcoming a new century or, as one radio DJ cheekily suggested, ‘‘a second coming’’.Warne, though brushed it all aside with some thoughts of regret of not being able to take his 500th Test wicket against India. He also sat out series against West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but was clear which he’d have loved to play: ‘‘Let’s say that I would have preferred to take the 500th against India than the others’’, he told this correspondent. ‘‘Or at least beat Courtney Walsh’s record by taking Sachin’s scalp.’’Indeed, missing eight Tests against mediocre opposition did not even cross his mind. He wanted to get at the Indian batsmen and pay them back for the 2001 series defeat. So why did he miss playing India?‘‘Bowling in India is tough. You need to get used to the buzz in the crowd and the conditions. I must admit, though, that they have the best middle-order in the game today’’, he said. ‘‘That would be obvious from their tour of Australia. They played above themselves in the Tests and then began to believe in themselves. That is a good sign. So yes.bowling to them in Australia would have been different. Far tougher than it was on their last tour here.’’‘‘Sure they lost the VB series but we are pretty good at getting our act together at the right time. The players knew what was needed to win the VB series and they did it. I just wish that I had been in there with them’’, he said.So what’s next for Warnie? He hopes there will be a place for him on the Test tour of Sri Lanka, when he and Muttiah Muralitharan — on 485 wickets — will be battling to become the second bowler to take 500 Test wickets. ‘‘It is a matter of pressure. Bowling on the sub-continent forces you to rethink your game plan. It is a lot harder out there than it is here. Yet you get to know the crowds and love them as well.’’‘‘Getting past 500 wickets is important. Breaking Courtney’s record of 519 Test wickets is equally as important. So, yes, touring Sri Lanka again is not going to be easy for me as I have to fit in with the new team regime —Ricky Ponting will be having his first series.’’The break appears to have given Warne the opportunity to reflect. ‘‘It’s given me time to think and the tour, as is my return, is my last chance at any number of things to set right and become more responsible as a player and as a person. Image is becoming important’’, he said.
