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Warne comments 'unsettling': Steve Waugh

Former skipper questions leg-spinning legend's decision to weigh in on coaching matters

Australia’s 1999 World Cup winning captain Steve Waugh believes Shane Warne’s recent comments regarding Darren Lehmann’s coaching would be “unsettling” for the national squad.

In a radio interview last week, Warne questioned Lehmann’s level of influence on the side and said the Australia coach should “be careful” he was not overplaying his hand.

And while the legendary leg-spinner took to Twitter on Monday to clarify his comments and reaffirm his friendship with Lehmann, Waugh said the public airing of such issues was damaging.

“It’s definitely unsettling for the team,” Waugh told news.com.au. “I think they’ve gone beyond the chuckle point for this one.

“There’s a lot of comments and then retraction of comments ... ‘I didn’t say this, didn’t mean it that way’ ... at the end of the day it’s something the team doesn’t need.”

Incumbent Test skipper Steve Smith poured cold water on Warne’s comments over the weekend.

"I think ‘Boof’ (Lehmann) has done a terrific job around the group as coach," Smith said. "It is exclusively up to the captain what happens out there (on the field).

"In breaks of play in Test matches he gives a bit of (advice) on what he thinks we can do in the next session and that kind of thing.

"But the captain is the one who runs the ship."

Waugh hasn’t been the only former national skipper to weigh in on the issue this week, with Kim Hughes also questioning Warne’s motive for getting involved in the coach-captain relationship.

“For him … to say there are issues and maybe Michael (Clarke) hasn’t received the accolades that he should’ve done, I mean Michael needs that like a hole in the head,” Hughes told ABC Radio.

“Darren Lehmann needs it like a hole in the head. You’d swear to God that Shane Warne is being paid by South Africa or India and the other sides.

“You imagine what happens if we get done in New Zealand. The media are going to jump on and say: ‘Do you think Shane Warne’s comments were a distraction, do you think there’s a rift between Clarke and the selectors?’

“I’ve been there and done it. And that’s a nightmare. And I think the best thing Shane Warne can do is keep his mouth closed.”