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Slurs and slights of pre-Ashes ‘phoney war’ are all part of the show

M ay creaks into June. The first block of the County Championship is in the can, the sun’s meek rays gather a little more strength and the damp English loam begins to sweat. So too the collective palms of the English cricket fan. A conjoined pulse quickens as thoughts, daydreams, hopes and fears become inordinately focused on that first ball at Edgbaston in three weeks’ time. That’s for the men. England’s women get under way at Trent Bridge seven days later – a first five-day Test on home soil. Two Ashes ding-dongs running side-by side. Twice the action and for now, double the chatter.

We’ve had Ollie Robinson talk about handing Pat Cummins’s boys a “good hiding” and Lauren Winfield-Hill declare that Meg Lanning’s Australian side – one of the greatest teams in modern sport – have “scars too”, adding for good measure that: “They can wobble, they can be fractured.” The response from Australian quarters has been disconcertingly muted. Even Glenn McGrath was seen to heavily caveat his customary 5-0 pre-series prediction this time around.

Emboldened by the success of the past year, Ben Stokes’s team have been looser lipped than an England side might normally be before an Ashes series. In a recent Sky Sports interview with Nasser Hussain, Stokes chuckled away when reminded of Robinson’s remarks. Nasser though could barely hide his twitchiness, admitting that the England side of his era – mental toughness and batting lineup at times as fragile as a glass dandelion – wouldn’t have dared to have a pop at the domineering Aussies – the very thought had Hussain shifting in his seat.

In fairness, both sides have given as good as they’ve got over the years. “We have come to beard the kangaroo in his den and try to recover those

Read more on theguardian.com