Champion leg-spinner Shane Warne would come out of Test retirement and play in next year's Ashes series if asked to by skipper Ricky Ponting.
Warne, who announced his retirement from Test cricket in December 2006, made the stunning revelation in the Herald Sun on Tuesday.
Cricket Australia issued a statement on its website on Tuesday morning, saying 'Warne's advice to CA has always been that he has retired'.
CA chief executive officer James Sutherland later said Warne would have to come out of international retirement to be selected for Australia.
Warne, who has starred in the Indian Premier League where he was captaining the Rajasthan Royals, said he would only return only under exceptional circumstances.
"If Stuey MacGill fell over and broke his leg, and there were no other spinners around, and Ricky came out and said, 'Mate, can you please help us out for this one-off tour? We need you', that is something I would weigh up," Warne said.
Warne, who said he had faith in Stuart MacGill's ability, would still love playing international cricket but said the off-field grind had worn him down.
"If you could just turn up and play Test cricket, that would be cool. I would definitely consider that. At this stage, it is a fairytale," he said.
There is a dearth of quality spinners in Australian cricket following the retirements of Warne and one-day specialist Brad Hogg in the space of the past 16 months.
"Hopefully over the coming years we can produce a few options for the selectors and Ricky to choose from," Warne said.
Sutherland said Warne was 'not available for selection until he's not retired'.
"Shane is one of Australia's greatest ever cricketers, he's currently retired," Sutherland said at a press conference on Tuesday morning convened to unveil Australia's international program next summer.
"It's really up to him if he wants to make himself available. That's something that really only he can decide if he wants to do that or not."
Less than four months shy of his 39th birthday, Warne has been one of the stars of the Indian Premier League, taking 14 wickets at an average of 18.78.
And while that has impressed cricket fans, Sutherland had a different view.
"He's bowling four overs every four days," he said. "That's all he's doing at the moment."