Quiet Australians at the Ashes? 'Maybe not' feels Joe Root
England captain Joe Root will believe Australia have ceased to be the mouthy, win-at-all-cost combination he had encountered two years ago only when the behaviour of Tim Paine's men stands up under the extreme pressure of an Ashes series.
Numerous members of England's squad were left bruised if not outright scarred by their experiences on that tour, bullied by Australia's pacemen and batsmen and also subjected to plenty of hostile and at times outright abusive language. The subsequent Newlands scandal and its fallout pushed Australia in a fresh direction, ruling out premeditated abuse, but it was evident during their Southampton internal trial match that there would still be plenty of chatter on the field.
In the lead up to the first Ashes Test, Root admitted he was yet to be convinced that the new, more respectful Australian approach would stand up when they were in the crucible of an Ashes series in England - where they have not won since 2001.
"Not sure, to be perfectly honest. We'll have to wait, obviously we'll find out," he said. "Some of the comments that have crept out over the last couple of weeks makes me suggest that maybe not. But we'll see. Certainly would be different [if quieter].
"I'm sure it'll come up in the preview to the game with the match referees and stuff. We've got a way of playing our cricket and we don't want to get involved in anything that's unnecessary, or - we just want to play good cricket. We want it to be entertaining; we want the crowds to enjoy themselves at every ground. But we want it to be done in the right way."
At the World Cup, England, the eventual champions, faced Australia twice. In the group-stage game, Root scored 8 in a 64-run defeat at Lord's, while in the semi-final at Edgbaston, he hit an unbeaten 46-ball 49 in just over an hour to guide England to an eight-wicket win.
"The first game I wasn't out there long enough to find out. The second game… by that time we were in a very commanding position," Root said. "So it's very different - and it was hard to hear anything above the noise at this ground. It was an incredible atmosphere, for the English anyway. Yeah, we'll see."
The comments that Root referred to included Josh Hazlewood's suggestion that Jason Roy would struggle as a Test match opener, while the inclusion of the highly talkative Matthew Wade should also mean things are seldom quiet when he is in the field.
"I saw a few comments, yeah," Root said of Hazlewood. "You expect those ahead of a big series. So, anyway, it's always tasty when people have a bit to say. I think with selection, he [Roy] is there to go and play in his own manner at the top of the order. He's a very talented player, he can take a game away from a number of sides.
"People have opinions he might be better suited to No. 4. I think it's really exciting having him at the top of the order and he deserves the opportunity to go out there first up and have a good crack at the top, and hopefully apply some pressure back onto Australia."
As for the reception expected for Australia's players from the Edgbaston crowd, particularly Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, Root said he was expecting the noise to play a significant part in the series. "I'm certainly not going to be stood there booing, that's for sure," Root said. "It must've been a really tough time for the three of those guys.
"I can't control how other people are going to react within the ground, and how the crowd go about that. I think the [World Cup] one-dayers gave a small idea of what it probably will be like for them. But we're not going to get involved in that as a team, we want to play good cricket, and make it a really memorable series. It's been a great summer for us so far, and it's an opportunity now, five more Test matches to build on that and hopefully make it a very special year to remember."