Pom’s view: Banter v abuse, where the Barmy Army's line is

Banter versus abuse: Barmy Army’s news song for Boof

Monty Panesar made a name for himself at the start of the Ashes – be it in a positive of negative way.

The former England player took aim at Steve Smith on numerous occasions referring specifically to the hurt the Australian star caused through his role in the sandpapergate saga.

Now, he’s come out and revealed the Barmy Army will be taking aim at Darren Lehhmann at the Gabba.

Panesar was asked for information about the song’s specifics but also pushed on whether he and the England fans understood and respected the line when it comes to banter versus abuse.

“Absolutely,” he told the ABC. “If you look at it, you want it to be banter. It’s Ashes stuff and you don’t want to be going to abusive behaviour where you’re actually hurting someone and their feelings.

“Let’s be honest, that incident (sandpaper-gate) hurt a lot of people emotionally from a family perspective and Cricket Australia lost a lot of sponsors and stuff like that. It was a very sensitive time.

“Even the Barmy Army themselves, they’ve got a code of conduct where if they feel like anyone is borderline abusive behaviour, they chuck them out.

“I remember Darren (Lehmann) talking about it, and I think the Barmy Army have a song ready for him in Brisbane. I think they’re not going to let him go either.

“But in all seriousness, everyone knows banter is banter. Part of the Ashes. We’ve had history. Years of banter and sledging that comes with it. There’s a line as well, where everyone feels that if it’s gone beyond that line, people will stop that.

“They won’t go in that direction. We’re all human and we don’t want to hurt anyone. It’s about competitiveness on the field. We don’t want to be causing any issues off the field with anyone.

“I hope he takes it as banter and doesn’t take it too personally. If he feels it’s a bit too much, I’m sure the Barmy Army will stop it. But there is a song coming out for him, I’m 100 per cent sure.”

Could England play a spinner for the second Ashes Test at the Gabba?

That is what former England skipper Mike Atherton was pondering in the lead-up to the touring Poms’ next assignment under lights in Brisbane.

In the squad from a spin perspective is Shoaib Bashir and Will Jacks, but will Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes look to a slow bowler after playing four quicks in Perth?

Mark Wood’s knee issue opens the door for either Bashir or Jacks to be thrown in and Atherton believes that a pink-ball Test in Brissie is the right recipe for a tweaker.

And he is favouring a two-Test offie who is handy with the bat in white-ball cricket.

“There may still be periods where the bat dominates, which is why a spinner should remain under serious consideration,” Atherton wrote in his column for The Times.

“If so then who should it be? Shoaib Bashir or Will Jacks? England tend to stay loyal and Bashir was in the 12 for Perth, but Jacks should come into consideration, as he offers insurance with both bat and ball.

“Jacks has played only two Tests and was a surprise inclusion for this Ashes tour, but he may well have been picked with this one match in mind. I would pick him over Bashir.”

The 27-year-old’s most recent Test appearance came against Pakistan in December 2022 when he went wicket-less.

Worse than the century drought: damning Root stat

Plenty has been written about whether this will be the Ashes series in Australia that Joe Root finally breaks his 100 drought.

In what is his fourth Tour Down Under, Root’s second innings dismissal was his 29th without hitting the century mark, but incredibly that is not the worst stat to highlight from his time in Australia.

Nick Hoult of the UK Telegraph explains that “Root has played more Tests in Australia than anyone else without winning a game. The Gabba this week will be his 16th match in Australia. So far he has drawn two and Perth was his 13th defeat.”

Ultimately, if England wins the series, whether Root has scored a century or not will matter very little. Hoult says the more important narrative is that the 34-year-old plays a role in ending “a dark story for English cricket of miserable times in Australia since the 2010-11 win”.

The Gabba Test will not be an appealing place to get the series back on track for England.

Hoult writes: “The bounce at the Gabba will not be as dramatic as Perth, which has lured English batsmen to the rocks for decades. But Australia will play on Root’s dismissals in the first Test and dangle the tempter on fifth stump knowing he likes to feel bat on ball and will wait for him to play his dab/punch on the off side that is his strength in England but weakness in Australia.”

The Gabba Test kicks off on Thursday from 2pm local time (3pm AEDT) with every ball LIVE across the SEN network.