A trading of premeditated Ashes barbs between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak peaked when the latter said “Sorry I didn’t bring my sandpaper” after he was presented with a photo ofThe two leaders’ joking exchange in Vilnius during the NATO summit underlined the ubiquity of an Ashes series that has been pushed beyond sport and towards cultural event status by a combination of England’s aggression, Australia’s skill andBritish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and...
Sunak’s reference to sandpaper raised memories of the 2018 Newlands scandal that involved numerous members of the current team, though only David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were formally punished. It’s an episode that England supporters, in particular the Barmy Army, are inclined to bring up whenever they feel the need to get under Australian skins.
As mimicked by Sunak, one of England’s tactics over the first three Tests has been to try to go “toe-to-toe” with Australia, per the instructions of their coach,Stuart Broad, who gained a harder edge to his approach after playing club cricket in suburban Melbourne as a teenager, admitted on Tuesday that his tirade of sledging towards the Australian team after Bairstow’s stumping at Lord’s had been a deliberate tactical ploy.
“Sometimes I like to just get into a little battle for myself,” Broad told Sky Cricket. “I knew it was such an important moment of that game at Lord’s and I needed to make sure I was mentally switched on and able to do a job for Ben Stokes at the other end.“So part of my strategy really was to pick a fight with a couple of Australians, so I wouldn’t be focusing on too much technique, I’d just be focusing on the ball and making sure I could stay there.
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