AS England's batsmen look for assistance to master Shane Warne and his flippers, googlies and sliders, Steve Rhodes admits he is not ideally placed to pass on advice.

Worcestershire's head coach easily sympathises with Ian Bell and Andrew Flintoff, victims to cricket's most famous leg-breaker during the second innings of the first npower Test defeat to Australia at Lord's.

Yorkshireman Rhodes, 41, was equally mesmerised by Warne's wizardry when part of the unsuccessful England team that challenged for the Ashes Down Under in 1994/95.

Keeping wicket in the entire Test series, 'Bumpy' averaged little over nine on tour with the bat, with nemesis Warne often claiming his scalp.

"I'm the wrong person to ask about tackling Warne," admits Rhodes. "When he bowled on that tour 10 years ago, I really thought he was at his peak.

"I did not have a lot of success. He got that big swing off the ball and managed to get huge turn away from the batsman. You could pick the ball he was bowling to a certain extent, but playing them was difficult. Greame Hick played very well on that tour against Warne but got injured, which was unfortunate."

Flintoff and, in particular, Bell were caught in a Warne trance at St John's Wood two weeks ago, the latter dismissed lbw when padding up to a straight delivery.

Before the start of the Ashes, Bell and other colleagues spent hours in the nets facing 'Merlyn', a new bowling machine that can send down Warne's variety of deliveries.

However, facing the real deal in front of a packed house, with an intimidating ring of Aussie fielders surrounding the bat, presented an altogether different challenge for the Ashes debutants.

Rhodes added: "A couple of the England batsmen did play the wrong shot to him. Freddie (Flintoff) played away at a shot on the off-side and that was a technical error. To be fair, Ian Bell did look a little bit bamboozled.

"Some people say the best way of playing Warne is to attack him. There's nothing like fortune favours the brave at times, but it is easier said than done.

"It is difficult. He's a vicious leg-spinner who turns it a very, very long way. He's a one-in-a-million.

"For that type of bowler, there's certainly nobody as good as him, not even close in English county cricket. Where do you go to practice against that?

"It's not just England. All the other countries are in exactly the same position. There is no other Shane Warne in this world."

Warne and former Worcestershire seamer Glenn McGrath will look to give Australia a firmer grip on the Ashes when the two countries meet again for the second Test at Edgbaston on Thursday.

England need a swift response in Birmingham to re-establish their chances of wrestling the famous small urn away from their bitter rivals.

The odds are now against Michael Vaughan's men from turning the series around, but patriotic Rhodes believes there is hope yet.

He added: "England have certainly suffered a jolt in confidence. I really thought they had Australia in trouble in the first Test.

"Even in the second innings, Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick looked as though they were getting on top when they put on quite a few runs.

"There were a lot of elements where England competed very well. I'm not Duncan Fletcher (England coach), but I'm sure he will be focusing on the positives."