Warne fearful of arrogance

Shane Warne has expressed his fears that Australian cricket could pay the price in future for an "arrogant mindset".

Leg-spinning great worried by over-confidence

Shane Warne has expressed his fears that Australian cricket could pay the price in future for an "arrogant mindset". The legendary leg-spinner insists Australia's position at the top of world cricket's tree could be threatened in years to come unless they work hard to unearth the next generation of top-level performers. Warne insists success at the top-level is cyclical and fears over-confidence borne from their current dominance could come back to haunt Australia. "The only issue I've got with cricket at the moment is that Australian people and administrators and ex-players and ex-coaches have got to stop the arrogant mindset that Australia is so much better than anybody else," Warne told the Daily Telegraph. "Yes, Australia is the number one country in the world, but all this bull about our players going to other countries and playing, what a lot of crap. "There's going to be a time in the next two or three years when Australia is tested. Other countries will catch up and they will unearth someone, that's just the cycle. "There comes a time. It's a fine line. It's up to the individual when you retire, but we still have to look to the future. "That's a balancing act for the selectors to make sure they say, 'You know what, we need to make sure we get some young blokes in', we don't want to lose two or three (senior) players one year, then two or three the next year and suddenly we have all these young players'. "Senior players also have a responsibility to not hang in there."

ICC criticism

Warne also criticised the ICC (International Cricket Council) for what he claims is its failure to develop stronger cricket playing nations. "The ICC can't just sit back and say we'll have another Twenty20 tournament, let's just have a World Cup and get more money in the game," he continued. "The ICC must try to develop other countries. Get people who know about the game to spend time there. We need India, England, South Africa, West Indies all really strong."

Tendulkar praise

In a final warning shot, the 38-year-old also went on to claim that Australia could face a real battle on their forthcoming tour of India - pinpointing the enduring excellence of Sachin Tendulkar as a potentially key factor. "Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman I have played either with or against. You never write off a great player," he added.

"I don't believe just because he is getting old, he is finished. A lot of these players are old, they know their game, they know how to prepare. "Given the conditions in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide are going to be pretty flat, I expect Sachin to get a lot of runs. Obviously, he is not as good as he was in the mid-1990s, but he is a great. "He is one of the all-time great players to ever play the game and he still is a very, very good player. "There is no doubt he will play one or two special innings in this Test match series. "Absolutely no doubt, he will play a couple of unbelievable breathtaking innings."