England pace bowler Ollie Robinson certainly didn’t mince his words when asked about Australia’s on-field chat ahead of the Ashes.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, the 28-year-old said Australia’s talk around the field is “pretty horrendous”, while describing himself as a competitor that won’t keep his head down as he looks to get under the home side’s skin.
“The Aussie chat is pretty horrendous if I'm honest,” Robinson said.
"I don't think me as a person could keep my head down if I tried. I'm definitely going to be trying to get under their skins and try and unsettle them as it were, batters and bowlers really.
"If I can get them off their rhythm then we're winning, so it's something you'll definitely see and hopefully we will come out on top."
On top of the aforementioned verbal battle, Robinson thinks England have a leg-up due to the fact that most of the Australian red ball side only arrived home recently from the T20 World Cup.
“It’s obviously not ideal preparation but, as a group, we feel we’ve made do with what we’ve been given,” Robinson said.
“We feel in a good place, and we feel ahead of the Aussies which is the main thing.
“They were at the World Cup and in quarantine so they are probably a few weeks behind us. We feel like we have some good work in us since being here and hopefully that will give us the edge in the first Test.”
Robinson will likely make up a four-pronged pace attack in Brisbane alongside Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
The first Test begins on Wednesday at The Gabba.