It’s the biggest rivalry in cricket – England versus Australia so why don’t we tell how to get a free Ben Stokes mask AND give you some of the best sledges ever
The start of this year’s Ashes series is less than a week away and all this week Daily Star will be bringing you the best build up to the action – including a great Ben Stokes mask in today’s Daily Star Sunday.
And you may need to wear it as it could get sparky. Here JAMES MOORE looks back at some of the best ‘sledging’ between the two sides over the years – the hilarious but sometimes brutal banter between the players in the middle…
In 2001 Aussie player Mark Waugh , brother of skipper Steve Waugh, barked at England’s Jimmy Ormond : “Mate, what are you doing out here? There’s no way you’re good enough to play for England.” Ormond quipped back: “Maybe not, but at least I’m the best player in my own family.”
Aussie bowler Glenn McGrath once said to England batsman Michael Atherton : “Athers, it would help if you got rid of the s*** at the end of your bat.” Atherton looks at his bat. McGrath: “No, mate, at the other end.”
Atherton got his own back when wicketkeeper Ian Healy said: “You’re a f***ing cheat.” To which Athers quipped back: “When in Rome, dear boy!”
Your free Ben Stokes mask is in the Daily Star Sunday this week – this one isn’t big enough for you face… is it?
But Healy could also be sharp-tongued. When Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting sent a player to “field under the nose” of large-conked England player Nasser Hussain , he joked: “That could be anywhere inside a three-mile radius.” Hussain once told Australia’s Justin Langer : “Look, I don’t mind the others chirping at me but you’re just the bus driver of this team.”
When England’s Phil Tufnell took Craig McDermott ’s wicket the Aussie fast bowler told him: “You’ve got to bat on this in a minute, Tufnell. Hospital food suit you?”
England’s Paul Collingwood was on the receiving end from spinner Shane Warne , left, during the 2006/7 Ashes. Warney asked him: “You got an MBE, right? For scoring seven at the Oval? That’s embarrassing.” During the 1977 Centenary Test Aussie bowler Dennis Lillee sent down a head-high bouncer to England’s Derek Randall . He replied: “It’s no good hitting me there, mate. There’s nothing to damage.”
Australian bowler Merv Hughes once told England batsman Graeme Hick : “If you turn the bat over there’s instructions on the back.” He also asked Graham Gooch : “Would you like me to bowl a piano and see if you can play that?” But he didn’t get it all his own way. When, in 1989, he told England batsman Robin Smith : “You can’t f***ing bat” Smith hit him for four and said: “Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can’t f***ing bat and you can’t f***ing bowl.”
During the 1986-7 series Australia’s Rod Marsh asked England’s Ian Botham : “So how’s your wife and my kids?” Beefy replied: “The wife is fine but the kids are r*****ed”.
During the infamous 1932-33 Bodyline series England captain Douglas Jardine moaned one of the Aussie side had sworn at him. Aussie vice-captain Vic Richardson asked his team: “All right, which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?”
