they don't like it up 'em

Is that the sound of a pram being emptied?

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By Nick Miller

Both England and Australia have their fair share of old boys who aren't short of a comment or two.

In fact, it's tricky to tell which of the 'In My Day' camps is the more irritating.

In the blue corner we have Yorkshire's own Geoff Boycott, who appeared to have finally flipped his lid the other week when he called for Duncan Fletcher to step down. Errrr, OK Geoff.

Of course this is the latest in a long line of bizarre proclamations from Geoff, my personal favourite being after Matthew Hoggard had taken a wicket in India last winter, 'Boycs' spent the next two minutes complaining about the commentary position.

And in the green corner, one DK Lillee, who has decided that the Australian team is too old. Fair enough, given that the average age of their likely starting eleven is the creaky side of 30, but big Dennis himself was still steaming in well into his mid-thirties.

However, the interesting thing about Lillee's 'quips' was the reaction they got from the Aussie camp. Damien Martyn in particular seemed to get rather riled at the accusation that he was past it, asking Lillee to 'keep quiet' and claiming that he had lost respect for the former paceman.

This may be one of the keys for England's success in the Ashes. We saw from Ricky Ponting's hilarious outburst at Trent Bridge last summer that Australia can get tetchy under pressure, and accusations from the likes of Steve Waugh and Allan Border that they were too chummy with the England side were met with barely concealed contempt.

And with the pressure of an expectant public on their shoulders, it will be interesting to see which of the Aussies loses the plot first.

Personally, my money is on Punter again.