5 most popular sledging incidents in Ashes history
The 2023 edition of the Ashes gets underway with the first Test between England and Australia at Edgbaston in Birmingham from Friday, June 16.
The five-Test series will see matches being played at Lord’s (June 28 to July 2), Headingley (July 6 to July 10), Old Trafford (July 19 to July 23), and Kennington Oval (July 27 to July 31).
Australia are the current holders of the urn, having hammered the Englishmen 4-0 at home during the 2021-22 season. They will be high on confidence heading into Ashes 2023 as they recently defeated India by 209 runs in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Pat Cummins and Co. outshone India in both batting and bowling departments.
England, on the other hand, could be a much tougher proposition than last time under skipper Ben Stokes. The all-rounder, in combination with coach Brendon McCullum, has overturned England’s Test fortunes in incredible fashion.
Apart from some high-quality cricket, the Ashes is also famous for its sledging incidents.
In this feature, we look back at five of the most popular sledges in the history of the legendary rivalry.
#1 Shane Warne vs Paul Collingwood
England famously won the 2005 Ashes under Michael Vaughan’s captaincy, the first time they had captured the urn since 1986-87. For the historic triumph, members of England’s Ashes-winning team were awarded MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
Paul Collingwood, who was part of the squad, scored only 17 runs at The Oval. When Warne met Collingwood later, he did not miss the opportunity to pull the latter’s leg.
He taunted the former England batter and commented:
“You’ve got an MBE, right? For scoring 17 at The Oval? That’s embarrassing.”
England legend Geoff Boycott also took a jibe at Collingwood and said:
“I feel so bad about mine now I’m going to tie it around the cat.”
A defiant middle-order batter, Collingwood played 68 Tests for England, scoring 4259 runs at an average of 40.56, with 10 hundreds and 20 fifties.
#2 Jimmy Ormond vs Mark Waugh
Former pacer Jimmy Ormond played two Tests for England in 2001. One of them was the Ashes clash at The Oval. During the match, Aussie legend Mark Waugh passed a cheeky remark at him and said:
“Mate, what are you doing out here? There’s no way you’re good enough to play for England.”
Ormond did not back down and replied:
“Maybe not, but at least I’m the best player in my own family”.
Ormond claimed only two wickets in his Test career, but both his victims were legends of the game - Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid.
#3 Merv Hughes vs Robin Smith
During the second Test of the 1989 Ashes at Lord’s, Merv Hughes decided to give an earful to England batter Robin Smith.
He told the batter:
“You can’t f***ing bat.”
Smith then hit the pacer for a boundary and responded:
“Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can’t f***ing bat and you can’t f***ing bowl.”
Another famous sledge features Hughes and Graeme Hick. The former enjoyed bowling to the Zimbabwean-born England batter.
During one of their tussles, he taunted Hick and told him:
“If you turn the bat over there’s instructions on the back.”
In a stop-start career, Hick played 65 Tests, scoring 3383 runs at an average of 31.32, with six hundreds and 18 fifties.
#4 Sir Ian Botham vs Merv Hughes
Merv Hughes is often referred to as Australia’s master sledger. However, he found a match in Sir Ian Botham. During the 1986-87 Ashes Test at The Gabba, the former England all-rounder hammered Hughes for 22 runs in an over.
The maverick Aussie decided to strike up a conversation with Botham after the latter’s knock of 138.
He told the England legend:
“‘You probably don’t remember me. But I was at a coaching clinic you did at Benalla when you played grade cricket here in the 1970s. ‘Did I give you any good advice?’ he asked. ‘I told you I wanted to be a fast bowler, but you said I should take up tennis or golf because they were more enjoyable and better paid.’
“He got up to leave, turned to me and said, ‘You should have listened to me’,” Hughes added.
While Botham is regarded as one of the finest all-rounders of all time, Hughes claimed 212 wickets in 53 Tests at an average of 28.38.
#5 Michael Clarke vs James Anderson
In the first Test of the 2013-14 Ashes, which was played at The Gabba in Brisbane, Michael Clarke took a brutal dig at James Anderson when the latter was batting.
As left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson waited to bowl, Clarke fired a warning at the England tailender and said:
“Face up then. Get ready for a broken f***en arm."
Australia went on to win the Test with ease, by 381 runs. But the sledging contest did not end there.
Later, England spinner Graeme Swann took a dig at Clarke over the incident and said:
“There was a minor furore about it at the time though I can bet you James would have forgotten about it within seconds. After all, we’re talking about easily the least intimidating of the Australians.”
Speaking of the 2013-14 Ashes, Australia carried the winning momentum from the first Test and went on to hammer England 5-0.