War of words between auld cricket enemies have erupted before first Ashes ball is bowled

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The Ashes — the battle between auld enemies England and Australia for Test cricket supremacy — is still four months away, but the mind games have already begun in earnest.

Former Aussie opening batsman David Warner, who always was a thorn in the side of the English, was the first to light the fuse by taking a direct shot at star batsman Joe Root.

And former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, who caused England more grief than any other paceman, went out on a limb and predicted the visitors would be crushed 5-0 in the series.

As one would expect, there was a quick response from the English.

Retired fast bowler Stuart Broad, who somehow always got under the skin of the Australians, expressed surprise that the mind games had started this early. McGrath’s prediction caught his eye and he wrote on X: “It’s August! At least let us land Glenn!”

All-rounder Moeen Ali called Warner a “clown” in response to his taunt that Root would have to “take the surfboard off his front leg” for England to win the Ashes.

Warner added Root would once again have problems scoring against ace fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who has had his number in the past Ashes.

“Rooty has yet to score a 100 in Australia and Josh tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg,” he Warner said.

Broad was taken aback by the comments, adding: “I’ve never heard England’s best-ever batsman’s front pad called a surfboard,” he said via X, accompanied by three laughing emojis.

Hazlewood has trapped Root leg before wicket on three occasions.

Ali added: “He’s just being Warner. He’s a bit of a clown to be honest with you,” Ali said on a podcast. “He’s trying to, obviously, get into Rooty’s head, which he won’t. He’s not up for the whole banter thing. It’s just Warner, isn’t it?”

Root has been in brilliant form with the bat recently and was among England’s heroes in that memorable series against India that ended in a 2-2 tie. The 34-year-old Root moved up to second place behind legendary Indian Sachin Tendulkar’s Test run-scoring record.

In the fourth Test, Root reached 13,409 Test runs — 2,512 behind Tendulkar’s mark. Root surpassed Australia’s Ricky Ponting with his 120th run and prior to that he sped by India superstar Rahul Dravid and that great South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis.

Is he capable of uprooting Tendulkar from the top? During his career Root has averaged 85.4 runs per match and at this rate he would need 30 more Tests to topple Tendulkar from the top.

England will need Root’s bat on the tour of Australia as they attempt to pry loose Australia’s hold on that urn that it has held for the past 10 years. But it won’t be easy as Australia has a superior bowling lineup, but the upper-order batting does look shaky.

The high-powered Aussie bowling lineup includes Mitchell Starc, Hazlewood, skipper Pat Cummins and Scott Boland. The spin department will be in the hands of Nathan Lyon, who is regarded among the best in the world.

Between now and the first ball being bowled on Nov. 21 at the Optus Stadium in Perth, there will be a firestorm raging on the sidelines between the two old foes. The Aussie media will waste no time in mocking England skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendan McCullum, who has been put up on a pedestal for introducing “Bazball.” It is named after coach McCullum who introduced an attacking game on the Test scene and it has been exciting to watch.

But for all that positivity surrounding the way England has played since the New Zealander took charge, England has yet to beat Australia or India in a Test series.

This will be England’s first tour under McCallum and the Aussies will want to make sure that he doesn’t return back with a victory.

Australia will be keen to end “Bazball” for good, while England will be looking for its biggest scalp under McCullum.

England and the rest of the squads seem to have conveniently forgotten that exciting, hard-hitting cricket was introduced by the West Indies way back in the 1970s when they paraded a number of huge, classy hitters, including the dynamic Sir Viv Richards.

Richards, who plundered the best bowlers during his time, laughed when asked about “Bazball” while he was in Toronto promoting the World Twenty20 Cup in 2024.

“The West Indies always played exciting, thrilling cricket during my time and all of our matches were sold out in advance. Fans aren’t likely to forget the Windies of our time,” Richards said.

He was right and McCullum and England have yet to deliver. Under McCullum his batsmen have been prolific, but there is no greater test in world cricket today than facing the Aussie quicks.

Apart from Root all eyes will be on the exciting 26-year-old Harry Brook, who goes for the runs from the very first ball he faces.

Others who have been impressive have been openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley and wicket-keeper Jamie Smith who will be remembered for his unbeaten 184 in the second Test versus India at Edgbaston.

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