Melbourne: Injured leg spinner Shane Warne said today he should be fit for the first Ashes Test against England in November.

The healing of his reconstructed shoulder was ahead of schedule and he would Test it in Sheffield Shield matches starting next month, he said.

Just a few weeks ago Warne said at a sports function there was a danger he may never play again but he told reporters today it was now a matter of when, not if.

``At the physio over the last couple of weeks I've shown some good progress and at this stage I'm aiming for the first Shield game,'' he said at the launch of the Victorian season. Warne, Australia's second greatest wicket taker with 313 victims in 67 Tests, was reappointed Victorian captain with wicket-keeper Darren Berry his deputy.

He has made himself unavailable for Australia's tour of Pakistan starting on Sept 23 but said he was aiming to make his Test comeback against England in Brisbane on Nov 24. He said he needed to playthe Shield games in the lead-up to gauge how his shoulder was recovering.

``At this stage I'm hopeful of playing the first Shield Game and if it means I can play two or three Shield games back-to-back and pull up okay I'll be available for the first Test.' Warne said with a `brand new shoulder' his bowling action should be better than ever.

Coach resigns

SOFIA: Bulgarian coach Hristo Bonev resigned today amid harsh criticism following the national squad's poor performance at the World Cup and yesterday's humiliating loss in the first Euro qualifier. Bonev announced his resignation in a statement faxed to the Bulgarian soccer union.

Bonev, 51, took over the national team from Dimitar Penev in Aug 1996, immediately after Bulgaria's fiasco at Euro 96 in Britain.

Murali for Lancs

MANCHESTER: Sri Lankan spin-bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has signed A one-year contract to play for Lancashire in England's county cricket competition.

Muralitharan, the leading bowler in international cricketwith 68 wickets this year, will join Lancashire after his commitments with World Cup holders Sri Lanka end at the 1999 World Cup in May, Lancashire officials said today.

Cops rescue Vogts from press seige

KORSCHENBROICH (Germany): Berti Vogts called the police here last night after his home came under seige from the press following his sudden resignation as Germany's national coach. A local police officer Wilfried Goertz told the waiting journalists massed in front of the house that Vogts would not be giving any interviews. Vogts' announcement caught the German media on the hop with Germany's two national television stations changing their schedules to screen special programmes