England cricket team in action during Ashes 2023© AFP
England cricket team fast bowler Stuart Broad took a cheeky dig at the Australian media for their reporting on his teammate Ollie Robinson. Australia pulled off a sensational two-wicket win over England in the first Ashes Test and the Australian media were quick to criticise Robinson for giving a send-off to Usman Khawaja. “No. 1 villain Ollie Robinson has learned his fate over an expletive-laden send-off to Usman Khawaja,” the headlines read in the Australia media. Broad took to Twitter after the match to take a shot at the media reports with a rather cheeky comment about the situation.
“No.1 Villain?!” I can’t have lost that tag already can I?! Disappointing,” he tweeted.
“No1 Villain?!” I can’t have lost that tag already can I?! Disappointing
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) June 22, 2023
England captain Ben Stokes‘ decision to declare their first inning backfired as Australia won the first Ashes Test by 2 wickets to go 1-0 in the series. Stokes defied convention by declaring on the opening day with England 393-8 in their first innings with Joe Root batting on 118.
His decision faced a lot flak from several current and former players, including ex-England captain Michael Vaughan. With the second Test set to start in a week’s time at The Lord’s, Vaughan said he will surprised if England don’t play cautiously.
“I think both teams will change slightly at Lord’s. I think the Aussies won’t go as expansive in the first innings and spread the field. They’ll squeeze a bit more. I’ll be amazed if England don’t play just that little bit (cautiously),” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
“Bazball, I love. I love the energy and what it’s brought. It’s now about winning and being that little bit smarter. When you’ve got an Australian team on the back foot, you’ve got to drive it down and nail them down even more. England just didn’t do that,” he added.
Topics mentioned in this article