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Marcus Trescothick was far from impressed by David Warner’s comments about hate being a motivation for him in the upcoming Ashes series Down Under.
Warner went so far as to claim England should expect ‘war’ once they set foot on the boundary and said he has no regrets over the ‘scared eyes’ jibe he aimed at England’s batting line-up during the 2013-14 series.
Speaking to the BBC, former England opener Trescothick rubbished Warner’s views as going beyond the normal pre-series hype.
“I don’t think they will get that involved,” Trescothick, a veteran of four Ashes series, said of the England team.
“To come out with those sort of comments is not needed,” he said.
“There’s always the hype that comes around before the Ashes, so I don’t think it’s something the players will be drawn into.
“I think it will just be a good distraction, hopefully, for Australia and they can get caught up in the war of words.
“I think it’s pathetic.”
The Somerset opener went on to say England had enough to focus on with their first warm-up match of the tour coming against a WACA XI in 17 days’ time.
“We’re a little bit unsettled as a team, obviously with the [Ben] Stokes affair going on, and there’s a few issues in the batting line-up which they need to get sorted,” the 41-year-old added.
“The combination of being that little bit not quite ready in what their team selection makes it quite tricky going into that environment because it’s quite harsh, it’s quite tough.
“As a country they [Australia] really go for you so I think we might find it quite tricky.”
