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Cook is boring, says Shane Warne

Melbourne: Shane Warne has described  England captain Alastair Cook as 'negative and boring and  warned that Australia will regain the Ashes if he doesn't show more imagination. All this summer Warne kept criticising spent Cook's


'I know he beats himself up mercilessly about being the only Australian captain ever to lose three Ashes,' said Warne. 'And I know Ricky made that horrific decision to put England in at Edgbaston in 2005. I don't want to be mean about Ricky - he's a good guy and he tried to do the best he could.

'But to bring up the stuff about Pup (Clarke) - maybe there was a bit of jealousy, because Pup was batting so well and Ricky was not making any runs. To me, Michael's very well respected. The best captains keep stuff in the dressing room. No-one ever finds out about it. That's what good leaders are about. So to hear all this in a book is pretty ordinary.'

Warne  believes England were wrong to leave Graham Onions out of their squad and says Australia's best method of dealing with Kevin Pietersen will be to play on his ego.

'I would challenge him with spin when he first walks in,' said Warne. 'He likes to smash the spinners. I'd play on that ego with some clever fields and see if he wants to take them downtown early.'