BATTLE FOR URN TURNS UGLY

It’s getting nasty in the middle as war of words rumbles on

The contrast in Steve Smith’s mood was dramatic. The Australia captain could not suppress his laughter in Brisbane as he contemplated england’s 10-wicket first Test defeat and Jonny Bairstow’s ‘headbutt’ on Cameron Bancroft.

Fast forward to yesterday and Smith was a picture of aggression and bad temper here as england threatened to turn this second Test on its head, making a mockery of the Australia captain’s failure to enforce the follow-on.

Whatever fate befalls england on the final day of a pulsating Test, at least they have rattled Smith, who has been on the back foot ever since this Ashes turned nasty with accusations of personal sledging against Bairstow at The Gabba.

Both teams were at it again yesterday, with Joe Root clashing verbally with Smith, the usually mild-mannered keeper Tim Paine, the pre-series antagonist Nathan Lyon and the man who has become a major irritant, Peter handscomb.

It followed Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad’s plan to unsettle Smith by being as aggressive as possible when he batted in a Test which has seen umpire Aleem Dar regularly step in to cool things down.

Many of the unsavoury scenes have added to the spectacle of a classic Test where england recovered from a 215-run first-innings deficit to move within 178 of their record-breaking target of 354.

And there was great humour, too, in the Barmy Army’s mickeytaking of Smith when they made the review signal en masse to greet every Australian appeal after Smith had wasted his two referrals. Yet this Ashes threatens to boil over unless both teams make a pact to cool it before next week’s third Test in Perth because feelings are running high between two teams who, for now at least, really do not like each other.

Listen to Matt Prior, who was unwittingly and unfairly dragged into the argument by Lyon, who said that one of england’s greatest keeper-batsmen was ‘scared’ during 2013-14’s 5-0 whitewash.

‘There’s been a lot of chat on the field that frankly has nothing to do with cricket,’ a bristling Prior told BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday. ‘Stuff that hasn’t come out for various reasons. There’s a lot gone on that I think the england players are quite upset about.’

england insist they want to move on from whatever happened in Brisbane, and Anderson, superb yesterday with his first five-wicket haul in Australia, kept a straight face when insisting he did not know what his friend Prior was talking about.

Yet it seems clear handscomb, a former Yorkshire team-mate and supposed friend of Bairstow, was the catalyst for what has gone on by sowing the seeds for what Smith himself and, predictably, David Warner said at The Gabba.

Stump microphones picked up Warner sledging england over Bairstow ‘head-butting our mate,’ but broadcasters are adamant nothing else untoward was heard while umpire Marais erasmus did not hear any personal abuse.

Nobody, including Bairstow, wants to go any further. But, with Smith interrogated by the media, both english and Australian, before this Test and asked to say, hand on heart, whether anything personal was said to Bairstow, the topic is simply not going away.

Australia bowling coach David Saker spent five years with england, during which they won the Ashes here seven years ago and then became the best team in the world, and knows both sides better than anyone involved.

he did his best yesterday to play down the many flashpoints.

‘The whole sledging talk disappoints me because it takes away from what a great series this is,’ said Saker. ‘I know a lot goes on in the middle but that’s always happened and it gets reported more because of stump microphones.

‘I don’t think it goes too far but you can be the judges of that.’

But is there not particular bad feeling between these teams?

‘Not really, I don’t think so,’ said Saker. ‘Players know each other way more than they used to as there’s so much franchise cricket. Ashes series are tough and in my view that’s great.’ Saker also added to the pressure on Smith by admitting it may have been a mistake not to enforce the follow-on. ‘Maybe we got it wrong,’ he admitted. ‘We didn’t get the opportunity to bowl with the new ball under lights and that was our chance.’

Whatever happens today, england believe turning their aggression on Smith helped them fight back here after a miserable first two and a half days.

‘They’ve been fairly quiet in this game, surprisingly,’ said Anderson. ‘I think our plan worked to Smith because we got him out quite cheaply. It’s about picking the right time to do something like that and get them out of their bubble. Steve seemed more interested in having a chat with me and Stuart than focusing on his job — so that’s a job well done from our point of view.’

england were in danger of hurtling towards another 5- 0 thrashing when they crashed to 142 for seven in reply to Australia’s 442 for eight declared but their fightback culminated with their best day of the series yesterday. Anderson was exceptional and Chris Woakes was almost as good as Australia were rattled out for 138 and Root led the england attempt at an historic run-chase, finishing unbeaten on 67 in england’s overnight 176 for four.

Smith, meanwhile, should have reviewed an early not out lbw shout against Alastair Cook, but did not and then wasted his two reviews on Root and Dawid Malan before seeing the england captain reprieved by technology on 32.

Today will decide how costly that all might be for Australia and whether Smith’s miserable day will become much, much worse.

And whether the war of words he started may just come back to haunt Australia and their underpressure captain.