Ashes war of words: Archer tells of ‘terrible’ Aussie chat
England have revealed some of Australia’s ‘‘terrible’’ sledging in the third test, also accusing them of panic and complacency as the Ashes mind games heat up after a cordial start to the series.
Jofra Archer has attempted to turn up the heat on the tourists, still reeling from Ben Stokes’ remarkable series-levelling knock at Headingley, while Joe Denly has also highlighted some of the barbs he copped as England completed their highest chase in test history.
Archer said he was chirped after being dismissed during the dramatic final session in Leeds, having batted aggressively and picked out Travis Head on the rope while searching for a third boundary in the over delivered by Nathan Lyon.
‘‘It was terrible chat. Nothing to worry about. It made me laugh,’’ Archer said. ‘‘It was either Tim Paine or Matthew Wade, but someone said ‘that is a great shot, Jof’.
‘‘You should never get complacent . . . the crowd started getting on their backs and I think they panicked a bit.’’
Archer also fired back at Steve Smith, who recently rejected the notion that Archer has the wood on him.
‘‘If we don’t get him out, there’s 10 other people we can get out and if he’s stranded on 40, that’s not helping his team too much. He can’t do it all himself,’’ he said.
Paine and Wade are both teammates of Archer at Big Bash League franchise Hobart Hurricanes.
Paine’s side has worked hard to shed the ugly Australians tag since the Cape Town cheating scandal but, as the wicketkeeper showed during his running battle with Rishabh Pant during the previous home summer, there is still scope for verbals.
‘‘If I play Uno with my daughter there’s lots of banter. We sort of sledge each other but we don’t abuse each other,’’ coach Justin Langer said last year.
Denly shared a 126-run partnership with Joe Root during England’s second innings, with the under-pressure batsman’s knock of 50 ensuring he would stay in the XI.
‘‘When you first go out there, the Aussies are always in your face talking to you. Trying to get you to nibble,’’ Denly told Kentonline.
‘‘They were calmly explaining to me that Joe Root would want to bat at No 4 in the next game because he hasn’t done too well at three.
‘‘If they don’t get you out in the first two or three overs they go a bit quiet. They were certainly getting a bit nervous as the partnership developed.’’