Shane Warne did more than any Australian to prevent Ashes defeat this past summer and he could not have landed in a better place to repair any damage to their reputation.

Veteran leg-spinner Warne was phenomenal despite Australia's 2-1 defeat, taking 40 wickets in addition to some flamboyant batting.

Now the 36-year-old will be unleashed on the cream of the world's batsmen at the Sydney Cricket Ground, traditionally a spinners' paradise, as Australia attempt to justify their position as world number ones in both forms of the game.

In something of a throwback to Test cricket from another era, four frontline spinners will be on show in the six-day contest, with Warne joined by Stuart MacGill and the World XI including Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori.

Some of the focus within the contest itself will be on the showdown between Warne, the most prolific bowler in Test history with 623 victims, and Sri Lankan Muralitharan, three years his junior and 60 wickets further back in second place.

But Warne, whose 128-cap career appears to have another couple of years in it yet, suggests he is only keeping the seat warm for the 33-year-old.

''He will get 1,000,'' Warne predicted. ''He is young, fresh and gets wickets all the time.

''I don't think there is any rivalry there, I am just happy to hang on to the record for a while.''

Comparisons between the two are inevitable but one significant statistic perhaps emphasises Warne's standing as the best spinner that ever played the game. While Murali has bagged 121 wickets in 18 appearances against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, Warne has featured in only one game against either country, accounting for six Zimbabweans five years ago.

Warne was also halted in his prime by the 12-month drug ban imposed for taking diuretics on the eve of the 2003 World Cup, although he has revelled in the attacking nature prevalent in international cricket since his return.

''It's very hard to get blokes out when they want to defend you and not get out but with guys looking to go after you and hit you for six and four you always know you've a chance,'' said Warne. ''I would much rather it be that way.

''That is the way cricket has been played recently and my most successful time has been the last couple of years. I have always said the more spinners the better.

''One of the great things about cricket is a batsman using his feet against a spin bowler, it's something everybody likes to see.

''It is more fun bowling to these sorts of players and it is good cricket to watch."

England duo Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison will be in world captain Graeme Smith's team as the representative side.

l English cricket authorities are awaiting an update from security consultants in Pakistan following the devastating earthquake which struck south Asia on Saturday.

The England and Wales Cricket Board and the Professional Cricketers' Association expect to hear from the Olive security firm they hired to monitor the situation in Pakistan by the end of the week as to whether the earthquake will affect England's tour of the country, with the team due to fly out on October 26. The first tour match, scheduled to start on October 31 in Rawalpindi, being switched to Lahore because of Rawalpindi's proximity to Islamabad, the centre for the relief effort.