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Warne backs Ashes-winning Oz team's 'exuberance, experience' to lead them back to No.1 spot

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ANI Sydney

Australian spin legend Shane Warne has said that he believes the current Ashes hosts have the right combination of exuberance and experience to climb back to the world No.1 position.

The home team has kept the same XI for the first three Tests, and named an unchanged squad for the Boxing Day Test.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Warne, who is a confidante of current captain Michal Clarke, believes that the early Ashes triumph is only the beginning, saying that the team can get back to No.1 as with the inclusions of David Warner and Mitchell Johnson, an X-factor with both the bat and the ball have been added to the spine of the team.

 

Hoping that the Ashes triumph is the start of something special for the team, Warne further said that young players like Steve Smith are also contributing to strengthening the spine of the team, although he warned the selectors not to force generational change on the team now that the Ashes are won even if Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Clarke, Shane Watson, Ryan Harris and Johnson are all in their 30s now.

Stating that the team can get into trouble if the selectors start 'messing around' right now, Warne also said that although it is a good opportunity to change things a bit if a player is injured or the selectors want to try something new, it would be dangerous to tweak too much.

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First Published: Dec 20 2013 | 9:20 AM IST

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