The verbal jousting has started ahead of the second Ashes Test with Australia 1-0 ahead having had the last laugh at Edgbaston.

Matthew Hayden has become the latest Australian great to swipe Ollie Robinson for his Ashes sledging, calling him a “forgettable cricketer” and mocking his bowling style as “124kph nude nuts”.

Robinson has become, according to former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist, “public enemy No. 1” in Australia after a feisty send-off to Usman Khawaja in the epic first Test at Edgbaston that ended on Tuesday. Robinson told Khawaja to “f--- off, you f------ p----” after dismissing him for 141 on Sunday, Day III of the Test match.

In contrast, England batter Joe Root earned plaudits after he broke off from the group to give Khawaja a pat onthe back.

Robinson’s new status as England’s “No. 1 villain” comes as a blow to long-time Ashes pantomime villain Stuart Broad, who replied to a tweet from Fox Cricket: “No1 Villain?! I can’t have lost that tag already can I?! Disappointing.”

Hayden took aim at Robinson and told Australian talkback radio station SEN: “The other bloke, he’s a forgettable cricketer.

“The fast bowler that is bowling 124kph (77mph) nude nuts and he’s got a mouth from the south.

“Someone like him, you can just go, ‘brother, I’m coming at ya’. Davey Warner can do that, right. He can just say, ‘You’re bowling 120km.’”

In a now infamous news conference, Robinson doubled down on his behaviour, adding: “We’ve all seen Ricky Ponting, other Aussies do the same to us.”

Aussie great Ponting was involved in a few sweary Ashes moments, and has been asked about it plenty since.

“As I said after Ollie Robinson said what he said, this England cricket team hasn’t played against Australia and they’ll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about,” Ponting told The ICC Review podcast.

“And if Ollie Robinson hasn’t learned that already after last week, then he’s a slow learner.”

“Some of the things he had to say — I mean he even brought my name into it, which I felt was a little bit unusual, but for me it’s water off a duck’s back. If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago.

“He’ll learn pretty quickly that if you’re going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills.”

Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy even refused to acknowledge Robinson’s existence, saying, “Who, Ollie Robinson?”

Australia’s Daily Telegraph delighted in England’s defeat, leading on the New South Wales-bred quartet — David Warner, Khawaja, Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood — who “hit the Poms in the Bazballs” while The Age carried a picture of wide-eyed Pat Cummins after hitting the winning runs.

Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, another player known for having plenty to say — not least to England coach Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand side — had Robinson in his sights too.

“It’s only the first Test match and England are playing a really attractive style, they’re about entertaining the crowd,” Haddin told the Willow Talk podcast.

“But they lost the Ashes Test and maybe emotion got the better of him.

“You win these Test matches on skill, on the last day, it’s a war of attrition, and maybe he just got a little bit in front of himself and just needs a little tap on the shoulder from some of his senior players.”

Robinson has a good Test record, with 71 wickets at an average of 21.1 after 17 matches. He picked up match figures of five for 98 at Edgbaston.

The second Test will start at Lord’s on June 28.

The Daily Telegraph in London, PTI

Paine calls Aussies the better side

Melbourne: Tim Paine, the former Australia Test captain, has indirectly called England a unidimensional team who only know how to play “really hard”.

“They (Australia) can play at different tempos, they can play different scenarios and I think their game will stand up in different conditions.

“England, we know, are going to go one way, they’re going to go really hard,” Paine told SEN Radio on Wednesday. “I think from what I’ve seen earlier and what I thought going into the series, I think that’s where Australia have got the advantage.”

Paine felt Australia will get better as the series progresses.

“I think Australia, as the series will go on, will get better and better. I think there was some clear strategy from both sides, whether it’s attack or defence... when a Test match goes for five days, you’ve got to be able to do both.”

Paine though said some of the Australian big guns will have to pull up their socks soon. “If I was being really harsh, I didn’t think Australia played anywhere near their best either. David Warner was ok, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne both missed out, Scott Boland who’s been amazing, had probably his first bad Test... I think some of our big guns were below their best.”

Written with inputs from PTI