WARNE TUSSLE

Australia team manager Steve Bernard revealed that Warne will only be available for a quarter of the 2003 English county season as the Aussies prepared for the third and final Test of their series against Pakistan in Sharjah, which starts tomorrow.

He said: "Straight after the World Cup we go to the West Indies for a series until the beginning of June. And then in August we are going to Bangladesh and, with training camps, Warney won't be at Hampshire that long."

But Bransgrove, back after a week with Warne in Sharjah, said: "That isn't my understanding. We're going to work around Shane's international commitments and the full extent of the international schedule is not yet known."

Warne, 33, has revealed that he is considering retiring from one day international cricket as that would give him the best possible chance of playing in the Ashes series in England in 2005.

He has not spoken on the subject since signing for Hampshire but it may be that he decides to stop playing limited overs cricket for his country after the World Cup, which begins in February.

That would drastically reduce his international commitments, allowing him to captain Hampshire for most of next season.

But Bransgrove added: "Shane didn't say anything about retiring from one-day international cricket to me."

Warne's exploits in the second Test in Sharjah allowed more time for discussions with Bransgrove, Paul Terry, Robin Smith and director of cricket Tim Tremlett,

Bransgrove added: "It was the first time that Paul and Shane have had a concentrated period of time together since we appointed them. They've spoken about their beliefs but this was a chance for us all to sit down and consolidate.

"We discussed a whole range of issues, one of which was about bringing in another overseas player.

"There are a number of players we're in dialogue with but we're not in any real rush. I don't think we'll be making an offer until February."