Warne to help England find another Monty

Sydney, July 30 (UNI) Encouraged by champion leg spinner Shane Warne's mentorial capabilities, the English Cricket Board (ECB) has approached the former Aussie to help them narrow down on a back up spinner to Monty Panesar before their forthcoming Sri Lanka tour.

The ECB chairman of selectors, David Graveney has disclosed that his decision to involve Warne was encouraged by the 37-year-old Aussie's valuable inputs to Chris Tremlett, who made an impact in his debut Test match against India by picking up four wickets at the Lords.

''It might have been Stuart Clark who suggested Chris (Tremlett) to shorten his run-up but Shane (Warne) seems to have had some input into making him think about his career,'' Graveney said.

''He made him question what he wanted to get out of the game and how far he wanted to go,'' he added.

The English chief selector further said that Warne has never been shy in giving his inputs about who should and should not play for their arch-rivals.

''He sees a lot of players and has always been good whenever Geoff Miller or I have asked questions, especially about England spinners. He understands our predicament,'' Graveney told 'The Daily Telegraph'.

Warne, who is being credited for influencing England's new face in pace attack, Chris Tremlett, Hampshire's Shaun Udal and Dimitri Mascarenhas, seemed enthusistic about his young Hampshire team-mate Adil Rashid, who has picked up 27 county wickets and averages 44 with the bat, for the vaccant second spinner slot in England team.

''Shane was very impressed with Adil, although he conceded that he was still very young and just starting out his career,'' Graveney said.

The Aussie repeatedly opined that Panesar should replace Ashley Giles, but the then coach Duncan Fletcher stuck with Giles.

Though, Graveney made a special trip to Hampshire's Rose Bowl to discuss selections with Warne, but Warne's manager James Erskine strongly denied that his client was in search for a job with the English team.

UNI