England urged to embrace hostility

PHIL Tufnell knows all too well how hostile the Australian public can be during the Ashes but he hopes England will learn to love even the most unforgiving environments.

- By DAVID CHARLESWORTH

The former slow left-armer was on the receiving end of one of cricket's most famous sledges when a spectator in the Melbourne crowd yelled: “Oi, Tufnell. Lend us your brain. We're building an idiot”

A minced beef and onion pie was also slapped off Tufnell’s head in the 1990s after he tried to sign an autograph, but the 59-year-old BBC Test Match Special pundit reflects fondly on his tours Down Under.

Ben Stokes and Joe Root have already been baited by Australia's media as anticipation for this series - which gets under way on Friday with the first Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium - reaches fever pitch.