Shane Warne has accused Cricket Australia of devaluing the Sheffield Shield.
Warne, speaking in a wide-ranging interview on ABC's The 7.30 Report, suggested Australian cricket is currently struggling and much of the problem lies not at international level but the competitions below.
"In any business you need the foundations to be strong. The foundation of Australian cricket has always been grassroots cricket, club cricket and first-class cricket," Warner said.
"To me, I think Cricket Australia is devaluing Shield cricket.
"I'd like to see international players playing Shield cricket.
"And playing because they love it and they want to give something back to the game."
Warne rarely agreed with fellow great Steve Waugh throughout the country's golden era but the iconic pair share similar opinions about the current state of the Shield.
"We've got to go back to basics a bit. Have more respect for grade cricket, more respect for the Shield cricket," Waugh told AAP last month.
"That's why we were always strong."
Waugh highlighted how international stars had been replaced during Shield matches in recent years, reducing those contests to being "almost fitness tests".
"Once you lose that basis and strong culture, that's why we're in trouble," he said.
"We're crumbling a bit in those areas. There's great pathways, coaching, facilities.
"But we just need to get back to that hard-nosed cricket at grade and Shield level, then you'll see the best players coming through and developing."
The issue has arguably never been more pertinent, with the next four Shield rounds to serve as a selection trial for Australia's first Test against India.
A cramped schedule has made it increasingly hard for the nation's best talent to play for their states.
Upcoming Shield rounds overlap with Australia's limited-overs matches against South Africa, while Glenn Maxwell is among the Test aspirants missing this week's first-class round to play a Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the UAE.
Meanwhile, Warne continued to critique Cricket Australia for its decision to slap a 12-month ban on sacked skipper Steve Smith following the ball-tampering furore.
"Steve Smith is a good person. He made a silly mistake, an error in judgment. I think in this country we're too quick to hang people and just nail them," he said.
"I don't think the punishment fitted the crime.
"A 12-month ban that equated to about an $8-10 million fine. I thought they were very, very, very hard done by and it was a very harsh penalty."
Australian Associated Press
