England bowler Stuart Broad has made it clear his team-mates are untroubled by Michael Clarke’s Ashes sledging, but they are still smarting about David Warner’s public criticism of Jonathan Trott.
Contrary to the action taken by the International Cricket Council, England have much less time for Warner’s behaviour than Clarke’s during the first Test at the Gabba.
Australia captain Clarke’s foul-mouthed advice for tailender James Anderson when facing Mitchell Johnson earned him a near £2,000 ICC fine.
Warner, however, escaped censure for his press conference description of Trott’s batsmanship as “poor” and “weak”.
England coach Andy Flower has been at pains to rule out any direct cause and effect between those remarks and Trott’s subsequent departure from the tour because of a stress- related illness.
Broad, however, has returned to the theme of England’s disquiet, insisting mistakes have been made off the field.
“I think the on-field stuff has been fine,” he said, reflecting on the controversies amid England’s unexpected 381-run trouncing.
“It’s an Ashes Test match – we all expect it to be tough.
“I grew up hearing all sorts of stories about sledging, and on the field I don’t think a line’s been crossed.
“It’s been tough, but we’re grown up, we train ourselves to expect that.”
Broad was careful to not mention Warner by name, but there was no doubt about his reference point.
“Off the field, there have been some mistakes made. As an England side, we pride ourselves on how we conduct ourselves when talking about the opposition, because you never know what’s going on in their changing rooms and lives.”
It is incumbent on England to recover, starting in next week’s second Test at Adelaide, without their troubled number three batsman.
“It’s heartbreaking for us to lose Trotty,” added Broad. “He’s been part of the side for four or five years and he’s a fantastic guy.
“He gave us a lot of solidity in the number three spot. But the important thing is he’s got the support.
“Everyone’s looking out for him, and hope he gets a bit of privacy at home to get himself right.”
Broad himself did all he could to silence the orchestrated boos of the Gabba crowd, coralled into anti- pathy by media campaigns singling him out after his at times controversial role in England’s 3-0 Ashes victory at home last summer.
He took six first-innings wickets, but said: “Picking up five-fors and scoring 100s in losing Test matches doesn’t mean a lot, because it’s about the result.
“This match was slightly different because of the pressure and different things going on with how the Australian people have reacted.”
Even so, he can travel with a spring in his step to Adelaide via Alice Springs, where England will play a two-day match against a CA Chairman XI this week.
“The boos didn’t affect me too much. Picking up eight wickets in the game, that can stand me in really good stead for the rest of the series.”
England will have to win the Ashes the hard way and were criticised for leaving Brisbane without interacting with broadcast media at the airport.
They arrived in Alice Springs to a more favourable reception – albeit one which also included the cheeky placement of a gaggle of rubber ducks in the arrivals hall, presumably for the perusal of England’s batsmen.