Warne's likely comeback in one-day game

Shane Warne's return to cricket is shaping as an appearance for his state Victoria in a domestic one-day game against Western Australia next Tuesday.

Australia's greatest Test wicket-taker improved his chances of playing in Perth after coming through a one-hour workout at the Melbourne Cricket Ground nets Thursday, as his former Australian teammates were playing the West Indies in the fourth Test inside the arena.

"I was very excited by today," Warne said Thursday. "I thought the ball came out really well.

"I was spinning them and the wicket was not spinner-friendly."

However, the champion leg spinner was guarded about when he would return to first-class cricket after breaking the spinning finger on his right hand against New South Wales in October.

"As I said all along, I'm not going to come back and play until I think I'm 100 percent right," he said.

"Everything is fine but with no match practice, sometimes you need that to get your rhythm right.

"At this stage, I suppose it's just the one one-day game but if I pull up well tomorrow morning, and give it another workout on the weekend, then who knows."

Warne, who has taken 366 wickets in 84 Tests, is keen to play before the Australian squad to tour India in February-March is named.

Mail Cricket Editor