Warne milestone expected to pull MCG crowds

Warne milestone expected to pull MCG crowds

Cricket Australia says the prospect of Shane Warne becoming the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets should ensure capacity crowds at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test.

Chief executive James Sutherland said the first two days of the match against England were virtually sold out, even though Australia had already won the Ashes.

Australia won back the Ashes in Perth on Monday and lead the series 3-0 with Tests in Melbourne and Sydney yet to come.

But with home-town hero Warne poised on 699 Test wickets, the Melbourne Test still had plenty of pulling power for cricket lovers.

Mr Sutherland said he was expecting crowds to fill the stadium on days three and four if Warne did not have his wicket by then.

Mr Sutherland said many Australians would want to witness the historic occasion.

"Shane Warne is a hero to many, many Australians," he said.

"There's no place where he's more popular than his home town in Melbourne."

Mr Sutherland also said a review of the national Test team's operations after it lost the Ashes to England last year helped the team regain the coveted trophy this summer.

Captain Ricky Ponting has thanked the governing body for establishing the review which led to the hiring of former baseball coach Mike Young and the poaching of bowling coach Troy Cooley from England.

Mr Sutherland said the review helped identify some weaknesses in Australia's coaching and playing ranks.

"We put a lot of the people who were involved in the Ashes series really under the microscope and that in itself left us with a pretty clear understanding of some changes that needed to be made," he said.