ENGLAND legend Graeme Swann has revealed how Stuart Broad delivered the “greatest sledge ever” as he hit back at Australia’s Mitchell Johnson.
The Ashes is well-known for its brutal sledgings, and fearsome fast bowler Johnson was one of the best at dishing them out.
England legend Graeme Swann has revealed the ‘greatest’ Ashes sledge he’s heard
He let slip a brutal comeback from Stuart Broad to Mitchell Johnson
However, he more than met his match when he tried to insult the England bowler.
The revelation was made by Swann, 44, when he was asked on “The Rig Biz” podcast what the greatest sledge he’d ever heard on the cricket pitch was.
He replied: “Personally, it was when Mitchell Johnson told Stuart Broad he’d f***** his sister and did that make them related?
“Broady went ‘no, that makes us even’.”
Johnson seemingly does not remember that exchange with Broad – although did recall another one while writing in his column for the The Telegraph.
He wrote: “Stuart Broad had a dig at me once when I was batting at the non-striker’s end.. ‘You’ve lost it mentally,’ he said, ‘you’re still the same’.
“He tried to put me off my game – and I did not mind that, in fact I like it about the game. As long as it is not personal.
“Virat Kohli used to bite back a bit, Joe Root would smile, but Broad’s comments are about all the sledging I can remember in Ashes cricket.”
Johnson, 41, was at his pomp in the 2013/14 Ashes series and he had England’s batters fearing a broken arm every time they faced him.
Broad said: “I always look back on that and we had some world-class players, didn’t we?
“Cooky [Alastair Cook], KP [Kevin Pietersen], Belly [Ian Bell], Trotty [Jonathan Trott], Matty Prior. World-class players that had dominated world cricket for six or seven years really.
“No one could really find an answer. It was so awkward, wasn’t it? A weird angle, ferociously quick, so accurate.”
Broad, 36, added: “When we were getting out there to bat, Johnson only bowled seven overs, hadn’t he?
“The great thing about batting down the order is when your batsmen score runs – and for a period our batsmen were awesome, weren’t they?
“You’re facing bowlers after 25 overs and they’re obviously a bit tired. But [Johnson]… He was ferocious in that series.
“That was your ‘get ready for a broken arm’ one, wasn’t it?”
Johnson took 313 wickets from 73 Tests between 2007 to 2015 for Australia.
The 73rd edition of The Ashes saw England make a good start on day one as a superb century from Joe Root helped them race to 393-8 before declaring, a move which led to Australia holding firm to finish on 14-0 at stumps.
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