Warne with npower Trophy Photo Paul McGregor

SHANE WARNE walked out of Old Trafford after Australia's World Cup match with West Indies two years ago, convinced he would be returning there the following sum mer as a Lancashire player.

The world's greatest leg-spinner and most charismatic cricketer had made his mind up that he was going to spend the summer of 2000 playing in English county cricket, and it looked as though the Red Rose County had won the battle for the most prized autograph in cricket.

"I had a meeting with Jack Simmonds at Lancashire during the World Cup against the West Indies at Old Trafford. I left Lancashire probably thinking I would play there," reveals Warne.

But he hadn't banked on persuasive powers of Robin Smith.

"I'd known Judgie for a long time. Not really close, but I'd rubbed up against him in opposition at various times." Once Smith knew it was Warne's intention to play county cricket, he set to work on him like a dripping tap.

"I spoke to Robin a few times on the phone and he just kept chipping away, saying 'give us a chance before you sign.'" There was the now legendary meetings at a Buckingham Palace garden party with former Hampshire chairman Brian Ford, but the groundwork had been done. Warne was hooked.

"There were two counties chasing me for last summer and three or four when I first hinted I might come over in 1994.

"In the end, I didn't come over for various reasons; injuries, the international schedule, birth of children. There were a lot of factors that came into it but last year was the right time.

"What struck me about Hampshire was that they were a county who hadn't had much success, they had a good group of young players who wanted to achieve something, and I wanted to come to a club that hadn't tasted much success and try and take them to the top."

Unfortunately for Warne, that didn't quite panout last year as Hampshire were relegated from the top flight of the National League, not that he could have done much more about it personally. You could stick Zinedine Zindane in the Exeter City midfield, but he wouldn't get them into the Premiership, and thus it was with Warne.

"I was disappointed last year. I could have gone to a bigger county where I perhaps would have had a lot of success, but I might not have enjoyed it," said Warne.

"Statistically I did very well with the most wickets in the First Division and nearly 500 runs, but I was disappointed. "I thought I could have done better. And I thought as a team we could have played a lot better.

"There's a lot of talented cricketers at Hampshire, it's just a matter of getting consistency in the team and finding that balance between switching off and having the disciplines and all those things.

"I would like to have the opportunity again because I think we could all do it a lot better."

If last summer was an uplifting experience for Warne, it was an education for many of Hampshire players, not all of them younger ones. All will say that they learned off him. His professionalism and his approach to every game was a cricket classroom.

"I would like to think that some of the guys learned a bit last year, and there's a lot more to learn," says Warne who is eager to pass it on. "If the club want me back, the more opportunity we have to have time together as a team, the more we could learn together and do a lot better."

The $64,000 question is whether Warne will be back in 2003. Australia's Sardine-tin Test schedule over the next 18 months rules out a return next summer, but Warne is keen to come back in 2003. He's already had informal talks and made it clear that Hampshire would be his first choice of county.

"I've spoken to a lot of people. Obviously they're pretty keen, if everything works out depending on international schedules. "They're showing a little bit of interest. I've shown a lot of interest to them and it's a matter of finding out the balance. It might not be the right time for Hamsphire and they might want to go in another direction. Who knows?" says Warne, who was keen to shoot down one story doing the rounds, that he was coming back to Hampshire in 2003 as captain.

"That's not quite right," he points out. "I was asked the question if I came back to Hampshire would I captain or consider the captaincy and my answer was whatever was best for the club, best for the county and for myself.

"I didn't say I wanted to come back and captain Hampshire. I said would love the opportunity to play for Hampshire again. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to do that again some way down the track and if the captaincy was an option I would consider it, if it was the best thing for the club." One potential stumbling block to Warne's return could be his chance to carve his name in cricket history.

Having passed the 400 Test wicket mark in the Ashes series, Australia's crowded schedule of the next 18 months could push him towards the magical 500-mark. Courtney Walsh has already beaten him to that, but if Warne could go down in legend as the first spinner to reach it, wouldn't the temptation to reach out for it deflect his desire for another dose of county cricket?

"Milestones and statistics have never been a driving force for me, "What you do is all about enjoyment. If you enjoy what you're doing then you keep going. If you're not enjoying it, it's time to do something else.

"At the moment I'm enjoying my cricket, I'm bowling probably better than I ever have. I can't bowl any better than I did in the second innings at The Oval and the second innings at Trent Bridge.

"No matter if it was '92, '93 or whenever it was, I can't bowl any better than that, so it suggests to me that perhaps the best is yet to come. If that's the case then hopefully I can take a lot more wickets."

© Southern Daily Echo