Australia have got their former greats to step in and battle their corner in an early Ashes war of words with Ollie Robinson.
Like two dads stood at the side of a playground, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden have weighed in to try and take Robinson down a peg or two for their boys after getting riled by his comments during the first Test.
The England bowler is playing in his first home Ashes series and was happy to defend his actions during the game in which he appeared to give Usman Khawaja an expletive laden send off saying “f*** off, you f***ing pr***.”
Robinson asked: “If you can’t handle that, what can you handle? We've all seen Ricky Ponting, and other Aussies do the same to us. Just because the shoe is on the other foot it is not received well.
“I don't care how it is perceived to be honest, it is the Ashes, it is professional sport. To get the wicket at the time was massive and I'm here to provide that theatre in the game.”
Khawaja himself had no issue with their interactions throughout the game referring to usual match banter and could bask in the satisfaction of earning the player-of-the-match award scoring 141 and 65.
And in response to Robinson’s description of Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood as ‘three No.11s’ the comeback on the field was pretty swift as Boland’s 20 as nightwatchman and Lyon’s 14 not out saw the Aussies to their win.
But the victory on the field was not enough for the two former batters who have never been shy in coming forward, and in referring to Robinson on Aussie radio but without using his name, Hayden said: “The other bloke, he’s a forgettable cricketer.
“He’s a fast bowler that is bowling 124 kph nude nuts and he’s got a mouth from the south. Someone like him, you can just go, ‘Brother, I’m coming at ya’. Davey Warner can do that, right. He can just say, ‘You’re bowling 120′.”
Both Hayden and Ponting took swipes at the quality of Robinson’s bowling, although with match figures of 5-98, he could more than hold his head high in that department.
Ponting is commentating on the series and has plenty of opportunity to offer his opinions on the state of play, but can no longer influence the game directly, and having had his name used as an illustration for the way that Australia have long played their cricket, the former skipper couldn’t resist biting back.
“Some of the things he had to say - I mean he even brought my name into it, which I felt was a little bit unusual,” said Ponting on an ICC Podcast. “But for me, it's water off a duck's back.
“If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago.
“This England cricket team hasn’t played against Australia and they’ll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about.
“If Ollie Robinson hasn’t learned that already after last week, then he’s a slow learner. He’ll learn pretty quickly that if you’re going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills.”
