England are deserving Ashes winner: Warne

MELBOURNE - Former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne on Wednesday hailed England’s Ashes heroes by saying that: “They deserve to win the series.”

Admitting that Andrew Strauss’ side had outplayed Australia in Melbourne, Warne said: “I have been impressed with England. They have played the better cricket and deserve to win the series.”

“They have probably only had three bad days of cricket and, in a series, the best side always wins. It hurts to see Australia outplayed by England, but I think we have missed a trick. It will be interesting to see how they go on from here,” The Sun quoted Warne, as saying further.

Warne added: “They will be under pressure to make changes, but England deserved to win and there is no shame being beaten by a better side. People in Australia are starting to panic, but we can still finish the series at 2-2 and say ‘we messed up but still levelled the series’.

Commenting on whether Ricky Ponting would decide to retire or go somewhere else, Warne said: “I don’t think he will step down. There is no reason to panic just yet. It is disappointing but England have deserved to win.” (ANI)