Cricket: Aussies already making plans over Warne bust-up

Australia's cricket team has already begun planning for potential fallout from Shane Warne's marriage breakdown to avoid distracting the team from seeking a ninth-straight Ashes series victory over England.

Shane and Simone Warne yesterday announced they would separate after almost 10 years of marriage, amid the latest sex scandal to have dogged Test cricket's leading wicket-taker.

Warne's whereabouts are currently unknown, but he was in England last week when he spoke to coach John Buchanan.

The pair discussed Warne's marriage and whether this latest drama would impinge on his preparations for the Ashes.

"I talked to him before this had happened and that was an issue of discussion and, as he rightly pointed out, he's faced this a number of times before," Buchanan said.

"Not this particular issue but obviously there have been issues in his life beforehand.

"From a playing sense one of the things he has done very well and certainly it's pretty common across all the players, that there are other things going on in their lives but they're able to - for wont of a better word - separate that from their cricketing lives and get on with what they do best, and Shane's no exception to that."

Warne will join Australia's Test squad on July 11 and Buchanan said he would consider granting the 35-year-old compassionate leave if he needed it.

"Certainly in my mind family comes before anything and if Warney had personal family reasons that dictated he needed some extra time, I'd certainly give it some extra consideration," Buchanan said.

"He's still going to be looking forward to playing in the Test match series, albeit that there'll be a change in his personal life but that's something he and Simone and his family will deal with."

None of the Australian players has been able to get through to Warne to offer support for the break-up, which comes a week after revelations of his latest sex scandal, involving London student Laura Sayers, 25.

The Warnes released a joint statement through Shane's brother and manager Jason, which said: "It is with regret that we inform you that we have decided to separate.

"We remain best of friends and we will both continue to be there for our three beautiful children."

With Warne a target for the tabloid press in coming weeks, Australian captain Ricky Ponting was keen to speak to him over the next week.

"For sure, that's awful news for anybody to be separated from your wife," Ponting said after Australia's 10-wicket one-day win over Bangladesh at Old Trafford.

"As far as it being a distraction when the Tests come around, hopefully it's not.

"It's obviously going to be a tough thing for Shane to deal with and cope with, but hopefully he can do that as well as he can leading into the Test matches and hopefully it is something that doesn't hang around that long."

Ahead of a clash with the world's No.2 Test side, Australia is desperate to avoid having a repeat of the troubles former opening batsman Michael Slater endured in 2001 following his separation from his wife Stephanie.

Many thought Slater's heated outburst towards India's Rahul Dravid in Mumbai over a contentious catch was personal anguish spilling out, while his partying on the 2001 Ashes tour coincided with poor form with the bat and ultimately, the end of his career.

Cricket Australia advised Warne to take the next fortnight off from county commitments to freshen up physically, but he is expected to play a four-day game for Hampshire starting July 8.

Among Warne's 583 Test scalps are 132 wickets against England, and 89 of those were taken on Ashes tours.

The first Test starts on July 21 at Lord's.

Warne proposed to Simone on the 1993 Ashes tour and the couple was married in September 1995.

They have three children Brooke, Jackson and Summer.

Warne's litany of indiscretions over the years are as noteworthy as his extraordinary performances on the field.

He was fined for accepting money from an Indian bookmaker and later suspended for a year for taking a banned diuretic, and has been at the centre of several sex scandals.

His sex scandals include being stripped of the Australian vice-captaincy in 2000 for sending lewd text messages to English nurse Donna Wright and an affair with Melbourne stripper Angela Gallagher in 2003.

- AAP