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Australian cricket great Merv Hughes has poked a veiled swipe at England, telling Ben Stokes’ side to ‘understand the rules of cricket’ in a bizarre rant about whether both sides will share a drink together after the 2025 Ashes series concludes.
While the facts of what took place are to this day contested, a source close to the Aussie team branded England ‘pathetic’ following the 2023 Ashes series, claiming that the tourists did not let the visitors into their dressing rooms to share a traditional post-series drink.
It came in the wake of Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping by Alex Carey at Lord’s, an incident which soured relationships between both sets of players, with England claiming that it was not in the spirit of cricket.
England have since contested that claim. The hosts had expected to gather with the Australian side after their 49-run victory at the Oval, the final Test of the 2023 series. Stokes later revealed that England’s ‘wrap-up took longer than expected because of multiple last time events,’ which included celebrating Stuart Broad’s final Test match.
Stokes explained: ‘We decided to meet up in the nightclub rather than the dressing room.’
But when asked whether post-series drinks are becoming a thing of the past during an interview on The Grade Cricketer podcast, Aussie Test great, Hughes, shot a comical barb at England and Bairstow ahead of the first Test in Perth on November 21.
Aussie Test great Merv Hughes (pictured) has shot a veiled barb at Ben Stokes and England, claiming that they need to 'understand the simple rules of cricket'
Hughes was asked whether he expects England and Australia to share a drink together after the series, as per tradition, but appeared to make reference to Jonny Bairstow's (second left) controversial run out during the 2023 Ashes Series
The Australian Test cricket great, who took 212 wickets across 53 Tests, joked that if England 'learn the rules of cricket' and 'don't whinge' then they might be able to share a beer with their opponents
‘Understand the simple rules of cricket,’ he said to The Grade Cricketer podcast, appearing to reference Bairstow’s dismissal.
‘Just stay in your crease. If you stay in your crease, you don’t get run out. If you don’t get run out, you don’t whinge. If you don’t whinge, you can go next door and have a beer with the opposition.
‘It’s not that hard.’
But that wasn’t the end of it, with Hughes appearing to hold up a cricket rule book, sponsored by famous Aussie Beer brand, Victoria Bitter.
‘After the last series against England, the laws of cricket got a little bit confusing from England,’ he said.
As part of a promotional stunt, Victoria Bitter has printed the laws of cricket on their cans, which will refresh fans during this summer’s series.
‘So we’ve got the laws of cricket on the cans of cricket. So basically a run out. If you stay in your crease, you’re in. If you’re out, you’re out. It’s not that hard,’ he added.
He went on to reel off some of the other rules that have been printed on the cans: ‘There’s a frivolous time delay. There’s faking injury... ‘cause we know a lot of the English bowlers, when they have their tea at tea-time, they strain their pinky finger.
Ben Stokes' side will take on Australia in the opening Test in Perth on November 21
Hughes, a former selector for the Australian side, also revealed the bizarre reason why he never attended a post-series drinks with the opposition
‘That is not an acceptable injury is it... So you’ve got to read the laws of the game and take it into the Ashes.’
Hughes, who took 212 wickets across 53 Tests for Australia, also revealed the rather hilarious reason why he didn’t like going into the other team’s dressing room after a match to share a beer.
‘The big thing with that is, I still reckon that there’s still a fair bit of get-together after the game,’ he added.
‘But not everyone gets together. I was never one to go next door and have a drink with opposition players when I played.
‘I’m sure everyone would understand that if you hate someone and you have never met them, when you meet them and they’re not a bad bloke... How disappointing is that!’ he joked.
‘I always thought, and this is why I got so verbal on the cricket ground, I tried to convince myself I hated that batsman. Because if I hated him, I bowled better at him.
‘But if I get to know him and he’s not a bad bloke, I thought that in a crucial position in a game I’d just lighten up mentally on him. I never wanted to go to them.’
