Some players of the England cricket team might have been unhappy with the recent statements of Shane Warne, but, Michael Carberry had some nice things to say about him yesterday.

Carberry played a fluent inning of 153 for England on the first day of the practice game against Australia A. With this hundred, he has now increased his chances of being included in the playing XI of England for the first Ashes test match.

Carberry had played well in the first practice game as well which was played at Perth. He had opened the batting with Joe Root there and had scored 78 runs in the first innings.

Seeing Carberry’s form in that first game, the England team management decided to persist with him at the top of the order even after the return of the skipper Alastair Cook and it proved to be a sensible decision.

Talking to the reporters in the press conference at the end of Yesterday’s play, Carberry said, “Shane Warne has been a great influence in my career. When I had made a move to Hampshire in 2006, I was struggling. I was lost, but, the support that Shane gave me helped me to revive my career. He always backed me and that’s what a youngster needs from his captain. I would say it’s because of Shane that I managed to represent my country in test match cricket.”

Carberry was included in the Ashes squad of England as a backup opener. He was expected to be on the sidelines at least in the first few matches of the series.

If Cook had not had that back problem, he would have probably partnered Joe Root at the top of the order in the game against Western Australia and then here as well. Carberry would have still been watching the games from the sidelines. But, the destiny gave him an opportunity at Perth and he grabbed it.