The key, according to England, was to play the ball, not the reputation.
Shane Warne, they decided before the first Ashes Test, could no longer spin the ball square. The world's greatest spinner was not the player he used to be.
They may have been right but that did not stop Warne tearing the heart out of England's second innings at Lord's on Saturday, condemning the home team to almost certain defeat in the first Test.
Warne made an indelible imprint on Ashes history with his first ball of the 1993 series, ripping a heavenly delivery from outside leg to clip the top of Mike Gatting's off stump.
On Saturday, he took three for 10 runs in 32 balls to all but seal the result and each of his wickets came with a straight delivery.
In all, he bowled 15 overs unchanged from the Nursery End and ended with three for 46. England, needing a monumental 420 to win in their second innings, closed the third day on 156 for five.
Warne, his shoulder and fingers stiffened by surgery, may not have the ability to shock that he once had. He admits as much. But foxes do not lose their cunning with age, even if they begin losing their hair.
"Most people have an opinion, they say 'he's not as good as he was' or 'he's getting better with age'. I don't know," Warne said before Lord's.
"All I know is my results over the last year or so have probably been my most successful of any stage I've played. Whether that means I'm a better bowler or not who knows. You'd have to ask a batsman."
Ask Marcus Trescothick, caught at first slip off a straight ball on Saturday. Ask Ian Bell, who was brilliantly set up with a series of big leg spinners before he padded up to a delivery that did not deviate and was palpably lbw. Ask Andrew Flintoff, who drove hard off the back foot and was caught behind as the ball again went straight through.
WARNE CAMOUFLAGE
Warne began the first Test with 583 Test wickets, the best record in history. Last year, returning for a 12-month drugs ban, he took 70 in 12 games, at an average of 24.07, a smidgeon better than his overall career average.
He may not spin the ball as much and try to camouflage the fact by coining pet names like "zooter" or "slider" for particular deliveries but he remains as hard to read as ever.
"My bowling is different to how it was when I first started," he added.
"Am I at my absolute peak? I think it's impossible physically to be at my best because of my shoulder and my fingers.
"When you start you just bowl, you don't know why, you don't know how - I suppose I just tried to bowl ripping leg breaks. Now I don't bowl big spinning leg breaks as much. I try to save them for my wicket-taking delivery."
Warne did not need them on Saturday.
He played it straight, and England played for turn. England took their eye off the ball and played the man's former reputation.
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