England deserve to win Ashes, says Warne

LONDON - Australian spin legend Shane Warne hailed the England team for retaining the Ashes Wednesday and said they deserved to win the series.

Warne said his countrymen were outplayed by England, who won the fourth Test by an innings and 157 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“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,” Warne was quoted as saying by The Sun.

Warne was pained to see Australia lose.

“It hurts to see Australia outplayed by England but I think we have missed a trick. In their first innings batting they have been caught too many times for nothing and then ended up chasing the game. It will be interesting to see how they go on from here,” he said.

The former leg-spinner said England are favourites to win the fifth and the final Test in Sydney.

“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’.

“We have a break after this so we can work out who the guys are for the future and who are the experienced players we need to keep in the side. It depends on whether Ricky Ponting decides to retire or go somewhere else, then there will be need to have a new captain. I don’t think he will step down. There is no reason to panic just yet. It is disappointing but England deserved to win,” he said.