Australia’s media have refused to roll out the red carpet for their guests this winter, with Ben Stokes’ England the subject of brutal jesting just 10 days out from the first Ashes Test.
Despite a ball not yet being bowled, Australia’s hacks are attempting to unsettle the tourists, with confidence high among the travelling party that they can secure a first series victory Down Under since 2010-11.
This winter’s action will see a resumption of the intense rivalry that captivated the nation 18 months ago in England, where Stumpgate at Lord’s set the series alight while also leading to plenty of stick being directed at the Aussies.
The Australian media certainly haven’t forgotten about the treatment their players received and are ramping up the mind games against Stokes’ team with a series of mocking backpages.
The West Australian labels Stokes a ‘sitting duck’ and calls his England teammates ‘arrogant’ for not ‘bothering’ to arrive in Australia early to prepare for the series.
The same outlet describes England’s skipper as their ‘Cocky Captain Complainer’ due to his protests against the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow by Alex Carey at Lord’s, while the tourists’ swashbuckling ‘Bazball’ style of play is labelled ‘dopey’.
Stokes is not the sole target for the Aussies’ barbs. England’s superstar batter Joe Root is labelled ‘Average Joe’ due to his poor record Down Under – where he has failed to score a Test century across 27 innings.
In fact, England’s leading runscorer is called a ‘pretender’ by the West Australian.
The Aussie media will no doubt be watching on as England play a practice match on Thursday in Perth.
England take on England Lions in an unofficial three-day warm-up match from November 13, with those missing out on selection featuring for the Lions.
That means Bethell should feature at the top of the order for the opposition while Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Pope could be subjected to a new-ball attack of Mark Wood and Josh Tongue.
Wood is close to full fitness following nine months out with a knee injury while Tongue appears further down the pecking order than Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse.
England were also boosted in their two-and-a-half-hour training session by the sight of captain Ben Stokes, himself returning from a hamstring lay-off, bowling off his long run without any obvious issues.
Meanwhile, England’s support staff has expanded here with the addition of Kent coach Adam Hollioake on a temporary basis ahead of the first Test at Optus Stadium on November 21.
Sky Sports News presenter David Fulton, whose son is out in Perth playing grade cricket, has also been facilitating throw downs in the nets for England Lions players as the tourists maximise their resources.
