England cricket great lashes back at Aussie media over 'playground insults' aimed at Joe Root, as he gives Ben Stokes a piece of advice

Cricket legend Mark Butcher has hit back at Australian media outlets by claiming their attempts to get under the skin of several England stars were lame.

Australian newspaper, The West Australian, poured fuel on the Ashes powderkeg last week after they brutally branded Joe Root ‘Average Joe’.

The outlet had published an image of the Yorkshire batter walking through Perth Airport on its back page, with a subheading that read: 'Dud Root Down Under: Hero in the homeland, pretender in Australia. The stats that haunt England’s greatest batter ahead of Ashes showdown.’

In Aussie slang, ‘a dud root’ can mean someone who isn’t very good in bed.

The barbs were in reference to the batsman’s record in Australia, with Root, who is the second-highest run scorer in the history of Test cricket, surprisingly never having scored a century in Australia.

Stokes was also branded ‘Cocky Captain Complainer’ and was still ‘smarting from crease-gate’ by the same masthead.

During an interview with Boyle Sports, Butcher claimed the ‘playground insults’ made by the Aussie outlets have backfired on them.

‘The Australian press will have fired the England team up!’ Butcher said, speaking to BOYLE Sports, who offer the latest cricket betting odds ahead of the upcoming Ashes series.

‘They've decided to have a pop at Ben Stokes and Joe Root, and they are very experienced in playing in Australia and know exactly what to expect.

‘I suppose the only disappointing thing from my point of view is they've had four years to come up with some stuff and most of it was pretty rubbish - at least the articles could have been vaguely amusing!’

‘They were just basic playground insults at people and I don't think that will have a massive effect on the likes of Root and Stokes. But, there's half a chance that people who have never experienced it before will be taken aback.’

Stokes has since responded to the criticism, admitting that he was left feeling ‘gutted’ that The West Australian fired up at Root.

'I was a bit gutted when they turned their attention over to Rooty, because I was waking up waiting to see what the next headline of me was,' he said.

On Wednesday, England named their 12-man squad for the first Test in Perth, with spinner Shoaib Bashir being included in the side, along with five pace bowlers, including Mark Wood and Jofra Archer.

While the mind games have already begun, Butcher believes any barbs going back and forth between the teams won’t be a problem. He did conceed, though that the crowds are what England should be more concerned about.

‘Sledging won’t bother either team!’ Butcher explained.

‘Ben Stokes’ charisma and his strength as a leader will see the England team stand up as one against any sort of abuse that comes their way from the Australian side.

‘They will be very, very, very tight - it will be one in, all in should anything happen or go off out there in the middle.’

‘It’s part of what makes it great - that’s what makes being involved in these series just unlike anything else, it’s a battle from start to finish. But it’s also the best fun you’ll have as a cricketer and I’m sure the Australian players feel the same when they come over here.’

Butcher, enjoyed a glittering career in cricket, amassing 4,288 runs across 71 Tests. He played 20 Tests against Australia, scoring 1,287 runs, also had some words of advice for Captain Stokes.

It comes after the touring skipper has been embroiled in a war of words with two England greats, Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham.

Stokes branded the pair ‘has beens’ after the pair raised questions about the team’s preparations, prior to this week’s Test. With a fast wicket expected, Vaughan was left puzzled at why the team had chosen to train at the Lilac Hill Park, which he believes was a much slower wicket than what they’ll expect at the Perth Stadium.

Meanwhile, England have also raised eyebrows, after the side were seen going out to play golf between training sessions.

Vaughan, writing in the Telegraph last week, explained that ‘England should respect the views of ex-players’.

Butcher offered a pragmatic assessment of the situation, stating that criticism from past greats was ‘part of the gig.’

‘The fact that Stokes has decided to rise to it and have a bit of a pop back is interesting but that's his character anyway,’ Butcher told Boyle Sports.

‘You'd expect him to stand up for his own team and stand up for the decisions that they've made and live and die by that.

‘The interesting thing is that in my line of work, you have to be able to be honest in terms of what your opinions are, but always look at it from the point of view that there's a constructive point to what you're saying.

‘You don't just have a pop at people for no particular reason, at least.’

‘That's just part and parcel of it - when pundits and people are asked questions they're meant for the public.

‘And if there's a team that gets under your skin, then that perhaps is more your problem than it is anybody else's.

‘But I honestly wouldn't pay too much attention to it.’