Shane Warne to `think about` England coaching job

Sydney: Australian bowling great Shane Warne, so often the cause of England`s demise, offered Monday to think about reviving the old enemy as the country`s next coach.

As England players flew home in the early hours following a final defeat in Sydney, Warne took to Twitter in answer to calls for him to apply for the role. "To my English followers, I`m flattered that you would like me to consider the England job," Warne tweeted. "All I can say is -- I will think about it!!!" The comment could of course be a wind-up from the 44-year-old who, at the end of January, was named as spin consultant ahead of Australia`s World Twenty20 campaign starting in Bangladesh in March. Cricket Australia said Warne would support head coach Darren Lehmann, providing specialist training for the squad`s spinners. The England job has been vacant since Andy Flower quit a week ago after losing the Ashes 5-0 on a disastrous tour Down Under. Warne, who retired in 2007 with a then world-record 708 Test wickets, tormented England during his celebrated career, including a 1994 hat-trick, but was also well-known for off-field antics. Melbourne`s Herald Sun urged Warne to think again about his offer. "You should be dismissing hare-brained ideas like that without a second thought," it said on its website. "Surely you wouldn`t coach the Poms mate??" tweeted former batsman and colleague Michael Slater. England`s one-day coach Ashley Giles is among the favourites to take over from Flower.