ENGLISH cricket fans have already begun their verbal assault on the Australian cricket team, but it appears the players aren’t prepared to take it lying down.

Australia had their first taste of the sledging - inspired by the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town - in a warm-up match against Sussex in Hove on Thursday.

Walking the sidelines as 12th man during the match was star off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who was asked by English fans if he had sandpaper in his pockets.

“Nah mate, just the Ashes,” Lyon responded.
The sledge wasn’t the only one aimed from the sidelines at the Australians, with a chorus of ‘if you like sandpaper, clap your hands’ coming from the crowd during the last ten overs.

Although, the relationship between the fans and the Australians wasn’t entirely hostile, with many players stopping for selfies and signing autographs between deliveries.

Marcus Stoinis - who made 110 runs on the day - said after the match that the sledging didn’t affect the side on their way to a 57 run victory in their first match since the South Africa tour.

“The banter was pretty good, you could hear them singing,” he said.

“It’s all in good spirits, and the boys on the boundary said it was good too. It’s only what you’d expect.”

Stoinis’ 110 was the cornerstone of Australia’s target of 277 for nine after they lost the toss.

South coast county side Sussex finished on 220 all out, with 45 balls left when No. 11 Abi Sakande was bowled by Jhye Richardson.

Australia left-arm spinner Ashton Agar took three wickets for 64 runs in his maximum 10 overs.