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Josh Hazlewood has issued a bold warning to England, claiming that they should think twice before dishing out sledges to any of Australia’s batsmen during this summer’s Ashes Series.
It comes as stand-in captain Steve Smith has urged England’s batters to be ready for tough conditions in Australia, with the New South Wales star explaining that the fast wickets are going to make it ‘tricky’ to score runs.
Excitement is quickly building around this summer’s Ashes series, with England and Australia set to square off first in Perth on November 21.
In the build-up to the series, some members of the Australian team have commented on this new age of Bazball, including Nathan Lyon. The Aussie spinner said he expects to come up against a harder-edged England side, one which will be combative and vocal, having taken note of how England tried to get under the skin of several India stars during their Test series in June and August.
During that series, Harry Brook revealed that England were told by coach Brendan McCullum that ‘sometimes we are a bit too nice’. After Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett caught flak from Shubman Gill over their pace of play at Lord’s, Brook called upon his team to toughen up and bite back at India. ‘We just thought: “I am not standing for that”, so we all piled into them,’ he added.
Commenting on the so-called ‘tactical sledging’, Hazlewood believes any attempt to get under the skin of Australia’s top-order will not wash on his team-mates.
Josh Hazlewood (pictured) has warned England to be wary of sledging Australia's top-order batsmen during this summer's Ashes series
It comes as Ben Stokes' (left) side revealed a harder-edged style of Bazball earlier this year when they faced off against India
During the series several England players, including Zak Crawley (right) caught flak from Indian stars, including Shubman Gill (left). Team-mate Harry Brook later called on the side to toughen up, become more vocal and hit back at their opponents
‘I would not sledge any of our batting order to be honest,’ Hazlewood told NewsCorp.
‘Especially someone like Marnus (Labuschagne) and Cam Green. They are so far into their own games and focused on their own batting that I don't think they would ever hear it.
'I think a lot of batters are like that these days.’
Tempers flared during the last time these two sides contested for the coveted Urn in the UK. While tensions had been bubbling, the age-old feud exploded after Alex Carey controversially stumped Jonny Bairstow during the second Test at Lord’s.
'I am not sure how it will play out,’ Hazlewood added. ‘There will be moments when it gets heated, but I think it will be pretty level across the five Test series.
'We are all quite experienced and realise it does not have much of an effect on people these days.
'You can still find the odd person it might affect, but most of the time it probably switches people on and makes them play better.'
England, meanwhile, have taken a leaf out of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s book by preparing for the expected hostile atmosphere Down Under by blaring out recordings of sledges through a network of speaker systems during training sessions.
Hazlewood (right) believes any sledges won't work on the Aussies, stating that his team-mates like Cameron Green (left) 'won't hear it'
Marnus Labuschagne (pictured) has been in brilliant form for Queensland at the beginning of the Sheffield Shield season, and Hazlewood believes he'll take any barbs in his stride
‘We’ve been “champed” about 50 times in the last week,’ England fast bowler Mark Wood explained to The Wisden Cricket Podcast.
‘So just getting used to it. It’s just trying to gear you up for what’s to come.’
Wood added that he enjoys getting a bit of ‘flak’ but added if things cross the line, he just ignores it.
‘I just tried to just embrace it and have a big crack with people in the crowd and bounce a bit off it. If they’re a bit too far, you can just ignore it,’ Wood said.
England have also been attempting to simulate the 40-degree conditions they will face in Australia by deploying heaters and fans in training.
But even with those preparations, Smith, who will captain the Baggy Greens in place of Pat Cummins this summer, believes England could be in for a shock when they come to bat on Australia’s firey pitches.
‘The conditions are going to be different here in Australia, aren’t they?’ Smith explained, as the Aussie batsman prepared for New South Wales’ clash against Queensland at The Gabba on Monday.
‘I think the last three or four years have probably been as challenging for batters as we have seen for a long time, particularly the top order.
Steve Smith has also issued a warning to England, telling them to expect very different and fiery pitches when they land in Australia
It comes as Pat Cummins (pictured) was today ruled out of the opening Test in Perth. Smith is now set to take the reins for the first match
‘So in those conditions, the bowlers are very experienced and very good and it’s going to make it hard work for the batters.
‘It is going to be tricky for all batters but when you are trying to get after it it’s going to be exceptionally hard.’
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia announced today that Cummins was not going to be fit in time to feature for Australia in the opening Test at the Optus Stadium, with the skipper still struggling with a back injury.
Cummins is set to return to bowling this week, as he plots a comeback for the second Test in Brisbane on December 4.
