Gower's Ashes sledging

Too early to start Ashes sledging? Never.

David Gower has heated up the pre-Ashes talk by claiming Australia has no culture and that the cricketers have an "animal mentality."

When asked, in an interview with the Radio Times magazine, if England verses Australia was a clash of cultures he said: "I'm tempted to say, how can you have a clash of cultures when you're playing against a country with no culture? That would almost be sledging."

And he did not stop there, recalling memories of being an England cricketer in Australia. "If you're on the boundary you have to be very, very thick-skinned, because the Aussie crowd will try you with absolutely anything."

"The trouble is, if they've had 10 cans of lager, their ability to come up with something akin to Oscar Wilde diminishes. A lot of it therefore tends to be very stereotypical. But it's feral; if they sense weakness, they'll come at you."

Now all we need is the retort from Allan Border, Merv Hughes, Dean Jones to Shane Warne