Shane Warne’s contempt for John Buchanan knows no bounds as the leg-spinner described his former Test coach’s English switch as a huge boost to Australia’s Ashes hopes.

Buchanan will start a short-term coaching assignment with England just before the five-Test series and will work with the English Lions who will oppose Australia in their final warm-up match.

It’s unclear whether Buchanan, as a consultant, will divulge any inside information. But Warne, who has never missed an opportunity to pillory the bookish coach, believes Australia have little to worry about.

“I think that’s a great move because that means we’ve got more of a chance,” Warne said.

“Hopefully Buck will be doing his stuff and he’ll be working and doing all his things and hopefully over complicating things.

“I reckon it gives our chances a big boost and makes our blokes more hungry.

“Hopefully he gets all of them in a boot camp and Freddy (Andrew) Flintoff and (Kevin) Pietersen hurt their knees, that would be great.”

Warne didn’t go so far as fellow leg-spinner Stuart MacGill who said Buchanan’s coaching cost Australia the 2005 Ashes in England, but felt it was the one time in his tenure his players didn’t perform.

“That was the first time he was in a situation where we weren’t playing as well as we would have liked and we were getting outplayed,” he said.

Warne believes Australia deserve to start favourites for the Ashes, which starts in Cardiff on July 8, and labelled the world champions’ early elimination from the World Twenty20 as a “blessing in disguise”.

“I wish we were still in the Twenty20 … but now you have to look at the positive out of it and the positive is our guys can prepare for the Ashes for the next couple of weeks,” he said while participating in Cricket Australia’s spin summit in Brisbane.

The former Test wicket-taking record holder put Australia’s poor record in the shortened game down to a lack of exposure due to their packed international schedule.

“Ideally we’d like the international players to play more Twenty20 in our domestic Big Bash competition,” said Warne, who finished with 708 wickets in 145 Tests.

“I don’t think we actually understand the tactics of Twenty20 enough either. We didn’t play a spinner in the first Twenty20 game (against the West Indies).

“You look at all the people doing well in Twenty20 cricket, spinners are doing really well.”

Warne, a CA coaching ambassador, predicted off-spinner Nathan Hauritz would break the current trend of slow bowlers being tried and quickly discarded at Test level.

“Over the last couple of years we’ve tried a lot of different spinners and no one has really stamped their authority,” he said.

“But I think I think (Hauritz) is going to play a big role. I think he’s improved out of sight (and) he’s bowling exceptionally well.”

© AAP 2012

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