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Australia started off Ashes with a big win over England in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston. The series has been the talk of the town for both the English media and fans as it also marked the return of top three Australian players - Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. The three are featuring in their first Test after serving a year-long ban for their involvement in the Sandpaper Scandal at Cape Town last year.

There was a lot of English newspapers were filled with their criticism, with some going to the extent to state that Smith should have been banned for life. But the Australian chose his bat to respond with and got centuries in both innings of the first Test. Though Warner and Bancroft didn’t impress much with their performances on their Test return, but the win was enough for Aussie media and fans to take a dig at their English counterparts.

English fans started booing the Australian team the moment they entered the ground for the National Anthem. Some English fans in the crowd even wore masks of Smith crying - mocking the time when he became emotional while addressing the media after the Sandpapergate scandal. It grew even worse when the Australian opening pair of Warner and Bancroft came to bat and the English fans welcome them by showing ‘sandpapers.’  

Later in the match, when Australia were fielding and David Warner was standing near the boundary line, the English fans behind him started singing - “He has got sandpaper in his hands.” Rather than getting irked, Warner smartly put his hands inside his pockets and pulled out the empty pockets to show it to the crowd, that too with a smile on his face.

This cheeky reply by Warner got praises from all around the world, but the English kept on singing it even when the Aussies got onto the team bus.

Steve Smith, who was awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning knocks of 142 in the first innings and 144 in the second, became the reason for Australians to bash their English counterparts on not applauding the player.

Even former Australian international, Brad Hogg did not hold back. He took to Twitter to let his opinion on the entire saga known.

The word-war between the two sets of fans were taken to another level when the Australian food spread brand, Vegemite posted a full-page advertisement which read:

“G’day! News has reached down under that free jars of Marmite are being handed out at the Ashes to try to prove it tastes better than our Vegemite. Are you guys barmy? Of course, the refined English palate will prefer yours. You see, Vegemite is a far stronger taste, made of resilience and fortitude with a dash of cunning and guile. Vegemite tastes like back to back tons on your return Test. Vegemite tastes like a come from behind victory by 251 runs. You lot won’t like the taste of Vegemite. Because Vegemite tastes like Australia. Catch ya at Lord’s.”

In reply to this, British food spread brand and Vegemite’s competitor, Marmite posted another full-page advertisement that read:

“Dear Vegemite, we might not taste like Australia, but love it or hate it, we won’t be tampering with it. See you at the home of cricket.”

Quite a spectacle, both on and off the field!

Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Lindsey Parnaby

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Related tags:

AustraliaEnglandDavid WarnerSteve SmithThe Ashes, 2019 The Ashes