GET set for fireworks, the 2023 Ashes series is HERE.
With the First Test getting underway at Edgbaston on Friday, we’re almost set for another exciting series.
There have been some phenomenal Ashes spats down the years… check out the top six
There have been some incredible moments in Ashes history, some of the most famous in all of sport.
But not all of them have been positive… with England vs Australia clashes seeing plenty of animosity in years gone by.
With that in mind, check out the top-seven bust-ups in Ashes history…
Michael Clarke vs James Anderson
Mitchell Johnson was cricket’s nuclear warhead in the Ashes series of 2013-14, frequently intimidating England’s batsmen.
Aussie captain Clarke had that in mind when Anderson came out to bat at Brisbane.
Clarke and Anderson were far from being mates and Clarke warned him as Johnson prepared to bowl: “Stand by for a broken f***ing arm.”
Michael Clarke had some choice words for James Anderson four years ago
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Bodyline
Fast, short-pitched bowling aimed at the body with a packed legside field was devised to stop Aussie run machine Don Bradman in 1932-33.
The tactic was called Bodyline and is Ashes cricket’s most enduring row.
Captain Douglas Jardine ruthlessly ordered fast bowlers such as Harold Larwood to intimidate.
Batsmen were hit and injured, questions were raised in parliament, diplomatic relations between England and Australia were strained.
The Bodyline series was so intense it strained relationships between England and Australia
Oil on the pitch
The players arrived on the final day of the Headingley Test in 1975 to discover oil had been poured over the pitch and chunks removed.
People calling for the release of a convicted armed robber called George Davis had rolled back the covers during the night and sabotaged the surface.
The match was abandoned but it rained anyway.
The Third Test of the 1975 series at Headingley was called off after the pitch was tampered with, using oil
Metal bat
There was something different when Dennis Lillee walked out in Perth in 1979 – his bat was made from aluminium, not willow.
He faced four balls and struck a delivery from Ian Botham for three.
It made a terrible, tinny sound.
England captain Mike Brearley complained to umpires and Aussie skipper Greg Chappell reckoned the shot was worth four – so he wanted also Lillee to change.
Lillee hurled the bat away in disgust before switching to a conventional blade.
Dennis Lillee was forced to change his aluminium bat after just four deliveries
Stuart Broad vs Australia
The England fast bowler decided not to walk after edging a catch, via wicketkeeper Brad Haddin’s gloves, to Clarke at slip at Trent Bridge in 2013.
The reaction was incredible.
Aussie coach Darren Lehmann urged spectators to give Broad a hard time Down Under the following winter.
Then, the Courier-Mail newspaper in Brisbane redacted all pictures of Broad and T-shirts appeared proclaiming: “Stuart Broad is a s*** bloke.”
Stuart Broad’s refusal to walk after edging behind angered the whole of Australia
Ricky Ponting vs sub fielder
In 2005 Ricky Ponting was left absolutely raging – after being run out by England sub fielder Garry Pratt.
When it should have been playing partner Damien Martyn getting both barrels, Ponting remonstrated with umpire Aleem Dar, and England pair Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard.
Pratt himself was out of earshot.
Ricky Ponting was absolutely raging at being run out by Garry Pratt in 2005
Justin Langer vs bin
Surely the most famous of all bin-kicks in Australian cricket history.
During the Headingley Test of 2019 Justin Langer couldn’t control his rage when he saw team-mate Nathan Lyon fumble a chance to run out Ben Stokes.
He stood up from where he was watching the action unfold and booted a bin down some steps.
Justin Langer took his anger out on the bin
But the Aussie star decided to pick up the rubbish after his outburst
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