The ongoing war of words triggered by Ollie Robinson during the first Test of the Ashes 2023 has escalated into a volatile exchange, with former Australian players making derogatory comments about the England paceman.
Adding fuel to the fire, Robinson’s teammate Stuart Broad has now responded to the Australians, shedding light on their own history of abusive behaviour.
What should have been a contest solely focused on the battle between bat and ball has devolved into a series of personal attacks and verbal jabs.
Broad expressed surprise at the excessive attention given to a seemingly routine sledge directed at Usman Khawaja. He questioned why Robinson is facing such backlash when the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not deem the words inappropriate.
“A lot more has been made of words on the field between Ollie Robinson and Usman Khawaja than ought to have been, to be honest,” wrote Broad in his new column for Daily Mail.
“Ultimately, the ICC had no problem with Ollie’s reaction to dismissing Khawaja in the first innings and I didn’t like Matthew Hayden’s disparaging comments about him,” he said.
“Ollie averages 21 with the ball in Test cricket over a decent amount of time and bowls in a very similar way to Glenn McGrath.
“Yes, there was a bit of emotion on the field, but off it we are obviously seeing the Australian guys in the pavilion corridors all the time, eating lunch in the same room and we enjoyed a nice-natured week.
“Now a couple of expletives the other way and everyone is piling in. Where are we going with this?”
Taking a direct shot at former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, Broad revealed that Ponting himself was known for his extensive use of sledging on the field.
“Ricky Ponting had a bit of a nibble because Robbo brought his name into things during a press conference, but not because Ricky was a huge sledger.
“Ollie had a bit of a mind blank, Ricky Ponting was the most famous ex-Aussie cricketer he could think of, and that Australia team he played in was hardly full of shrinking violets, so the hoo-ha that was created surprised us.
“I’m sure it’ll die down pretty quickly, though, because with the teams getting on so well it’s a little bit of an irrelevance,” added the English seamer.
Broad also believes that the incident involving Robinson has been blown out of proportion, and he specifically criticized Matthew Hayden for his stance on the matter.
“A lot has been made out of what Robinson said to Khawaja. I didn’t like the insulting words of Matthew Hayden for Ollie.”
The second Test of the five-match Ashes series will start from Wednesday (June 28) at Lord’s, London.
