“Sorry @MClarke23 if you woke up to calls!!!! See you soon buddy,” he tweeted to the skipper, a close friend.

The 43-year-old leg-spinner, regarded as one of the game’s greatest players, quit Tests in 2007 but captained the Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals for four years, winning the inaugural tournament in 2008.

Now preparing for another season in Australia’s Big Bash League with the Melbourne Stars, he told News Limited newspapers that he had “absolutely no doubt” he could bowl successfully at Test level again.

Warne said that if Clarke suggested his services were needed after the Test team’s recent bowling struggles against South Africa, he would give it some serious thought.

“If your best friend says, ‘Mate, I want you to seriously consider making a commitment to Australian cricket and coming back out of retirement’, (to) make myself available for selection, that’s a different scenario,” Warne said.

“From a purely bowling perspective, I don’t think my form would be the concern, it’s just the time and actually making that commitment again.”

He added that he felt the urge to play the five-day game again while watching the third and final Test against South Africa in Perth when the Australian attack struggled to make an impact in the Proteas’ second innings.

“I felt like I wanted to jump off the couch and grab the ball,” he said.