Lou Vincent says it is easy to motivate himself to take on the Australians © Getty Images Enlarge

Lou Vincent has returned fire at Australia's "never-ending" sledging by saying their players think they are "bigger than the game". Speaking after his 66 against Australia in Perth, Vincent said the size of the opposition's egos motivated him to take them on.

"I watched Roger Federer [at the Australian Open] the other day and thought, 'What a true champion'," Vincent said on Newstalk ZB."He's the sort of guy you want to watch because he plays the game well and he's humble about it."

"You watch Australia and just their egos. Sure, you're talented, you've got great players and you win most of the time, but as blokes they've got no time for you."

Vincent was happy to post a half-century in his first match back with the squad and he followed it with 76 in Tuesday's game against England. "It was just good to have a bit of luck and stick it to them - just to keep them quiet for a while," he said. "It's never-ending. They're very close-knit.

"They hunt like a pack of dogs. There's not just one guy going at you, there's a little bit here, a little bit there. I mean, I love that part of the game, I think it's brilliant, but as soon as they start calling you all sorts of stuff it gets a bit tiring. I personally think that they think they're bigger than the game. It's all about standing up to them."

Peter Young, a Cricket Australia spokesman, said Australia play hard and it is one of the reasons they are No. 1. "What Lou Vincent is saying is not particularly different to what a lot of people say about competing against Australia," Young said in The Australian. "It's red-blooded competition."