[Davros]

English fans want to see Warne back English cricket supporters overwhelmingly want to see Shane Warne back in the Test arena and are even happy for him to let rip with some colourful sledging. In a survey conducted by The Wisden Cricketer magazine, 70 per cent of readers believed Warne should be picked for Australia again when he's served his 12-month ban for testing positive to a banned diuretic. The record-breaking leg spinner enjoys a love-hate relationship with the English media and cricket followers. They relish making fun of his controversies while at the same time, even though he has destroyed the English side in countless Tests and one-dayers, marvel at the talent which has brought him 491 Test wickets. "People who love cricket want to see the big names and Warne is one of the greats. People will say (when) he's served his ban, bring it on," said Wisden Cricketer editor John Stern. "Most English fans would love to see Warne play here again." With or without Warne, an optimistic 50 per cent of English fans believed England could win the Ashes off Australia in the 2005 Ashes series. If Warne, 34, does make that tour of England, more than half of the 1000 readers who responded to the on-line poll published in the monthly magazine on Friday would be happy to hear his and his teammates' on-field verbals. The majority of readers agreed with Pakistan captain Rashid Latif who said Australian sledging was fine. But while they believed sledging was acceptable at the highest levels of the game, two-thirds said it was not acceptable in village cricket. "I think it shows cricket fans are fairly grown up about the way international cricket is played and that words are exchanged in the heat of battle and isn't a detriment to the game," Stern said. Latif wrote on the CricInfo website that he believed not all sledging was bad and said the Australians' verbals added to the game's competitiveness as long as they avoided ugly language. Seventy per cent of readers believed corruption was still in the game despite assurances from the International Cricket Council that it was clean, but fewer than a third said it spoilt their enjoyment of the game. "Diehard cricket fans know the history of corruption in the game and are not naive," Stern said. "They don't quite believe it's completely stamped out. "The ICC should ask why do people think that and address that." England's appreciation of Australian cricket continued when Sydney was voted as the favourite ground to watch England play Test cricket, while Richie Benaud was overwhelmingly voted the best commentator.

Hold on - run that past me again - Richie as the best commentator??? You have got to be pullin me ole "Jake the peg" dontcha? Like - sure - Tony Grieg is the world's worst commentator, but I would rather listen to ole "Aggers" on the radio than suffer through rustic Richie .