"I would not sledge any of our batters”- Josh Hazlewood sends England a warning ahead of Ashes 2025

Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has issued a warning to England ahead of the Ashes series, stating they should not try to get under the Australian players' skin. The comments come shortly after stand-in skipper Steve Smith warned England players to expect difficult pitches during the series.

During the India series, the England players demonstrated their aggressive side with the Zak Crawley and Shubman Gill incident. Australian players such as Nathan Lyon have stated that they anticipate a hard-hitting England team during the series.

According to Hazlewood, Australian batters like Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne won't listen to the opposition's verbal abuse, and the sledging won't work on them.

"I would not sledge any of our batting order, to be honest. Especially someone like Marnus (Labuschagne) and Cam Green. They are so far into their own games and focused on their own batting that I don't think they would ever hear it. I think a lot of batters are like that these days,” Hazlewood told NewsCorp.

Josh Hazlewood expects things to be pretty level across the Ashes

The Jonny Bairstow stumping incident was the main source of tension during the most recent Ashes series in England. There was a lot of back-and-forth between the two teams after Alex Carey controversially stumped Bairstow during the Lord's Test.

Hazlewood expressed uncertainty regarding the course of the upcoming series. The pacer acknowledged that there would be a few hot moments, but he anticipates that the Ashes will be quite even.

"I am not sure how it will play out. There will be moments when it gets heated, but I think it will be pretty level across the five-test series. We are all quite experienced and realize it does not have much of an effect on people these days. You can still find the odd person it might affect, but most of the time it probably switches people on and makes them play better," said Hazlewood.

The Ashes will begin on November 21 in Perth.

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