Gulf Today - Panorama

Ashes 2017: Smith hits back at Anderson as war of words hots up

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Steve Smith has hit back at James Anderson’s suggestion that Australia are acting like bullies in their Ashes sledging campaign, claiming the England paceman is “one of the biggest sledgers in the game.”

Smith was also keen to clarify to England captain Joe Root that there was no intent to mock the tourists as he and Cameron Bancroft laughed their way through their victory press conference after the first Test at the Gabba. On the eve on the second Test, an inaugural day-night Ashes match at the Adelaide Oval, the Australian captain found himself accounting for his team’s line of verbal attack on the pitch against Jonny Bairstow. He was also asked to respond to Anderson’s observatio­ns in his newspaper column, and said: “I think it’s interestin­g coming from Jimmy, calling us bullies and big sledgers. I think he’s one of the biggest sledgers in the game, to me in particular. “I remember back in 2010, when I first started and wasn’t any good, he was pretty happy to get stuck into me then.” As for Australia’s tactics in their 10-wicket first-test victory, Smith insists — to the best of his knowledge — that nothing said to Bairstow was beyond the pale.

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