Days after his former Australia teammate Glenn McGrath stated that England were being a “little bit too nice” during the ongoing Ashes series, Shane Warne has said that the two teams have been “too friendly”.
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David Warner and Mark Wood were seen sharing a chat ahead of the start of day two at the SCG, which did not go down well with Warne, who stated that the teams are too “friendly and familiar” for his liking.
Commentating for Fox Cricket, the former spinner, said, “Too friendly for my mine [the relationship between the two teams in the ongoing Ashes]. When I say too friendly, let me clarify that – I think the series is played in great spirit and we want to see that camaraderie, I think back to 2005 Ashes, the spirit between both sides was outstanding and the skill on display captured the imagination of all the public, everywhere around the world.”
“But I don’t know about this [Warner and Wood talking in the middle] just before the game. We don’t need a big full-on chat every morning where every player is talking to every player.”
He also added that England need to be “careful” and that being friendly with an opponent could allow them to lose their edge. The visitors have already conceded the series 0-3.
“I don’t think England have been aggressive enough, I’d like them to get in the face of Australia a bit more and come out a bit harder. They’re staying in the same hotel, probably sitting around bumping into each other because they can’t do anything, they see each other at the ground and are way too friendly and familiar.”
“When you’re friendly with someone it’s pretty hard when you’ve got the ball in your hand down the other end to think ‘Oh he’s not a bad bloke this bloke’ and you don’t go easy on him but you haven’t got that extra [edge], I wanted the batsmen to hate me, I wanted them to absolutely hate me and smash me out of the park because then I had an edge. You’ve got to be careful to not lose your edge.”
