The propaganda war for the 2009 Ashes series is well and truly under way, with Shane Warne predicting from the heart of the Australian High Commission in London yesterday that England will lose 5-0 next summer unless they discover some momentum and string together Test victories.

Warne said that he was astonished that anyone was talking about England regaining the Ashes on the back of their recent upturn in fortunes under Kevin Pietersen, which included victory in the final npower Test against South Africa in August. The former Australia leg spinner also said that England need Michael Vaughan to regain his batting place at No3 if Pietersen is to have his strongest XI.

“I want to see England win something first,” Warne said. “They've just won a dead rubber and now everyone's talking about beating Australia. South Africa won that series 2-1 and really they've only got a couple of batsmen. It's encouraging for England, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

“England need to start winning some series. That's what they did in 2004 and 2005 and if they can do that this winter then the Ashes can be exciting. If not, Australia will thrash them. It will be 5-0 again, just like last time.”

Pietersen's former captain at Hampshire praised his cricket brain. “The thing about Kevin is he understands the game,” Warne said. “He's very keen and he's confident, so he will have some success, but if I were an England supporter I would be more excited about one-day cricket. You've become pretty good at that.”

Warne was speaking to promote his book, Shane Warne's Century, in which he lists his 100 favourite cricketers, and said that the man at No54 was once one of the finest players in the game and deserves his place in the England XI. “Vaughan was unbelievable when he came to Australia in the early 2000s [2002-03] and got a couple [three] of hundreds,” he said. “He was up there with [Brian] Lara and [Sachin] Tendulkar at that time. To me, he is still the best No3 that England have and you need him back in the side. I still have doubts about Ian Bell and others.”

The second top wicket-taker in Tests denied that Australia were on the decline after the retirements of several leading players. “Our batting is getting stronger,” he said. “The list of outstanding Australian batsmen in county cricket goes on and on. Our bowlers can take 20 wickets and Brett Lee has just had his best year. We just need a spinner to come through.”

Warne, 39, rejected suggestions that he would make a comeback. “I'm fit enough, probably fitter than I've ever been,” he said. “But at the moment I'm happily retired.”

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