Cricket: Atherton faces his opening bouncer

THE smoothest of passages across the globe had a slight bump at the end of it for Michael Atherton, the England captain, as the Ashes tour party landed here yesterday. The Australians were trying to make mischief, and it had nothing to do with dirt in pockets or nods of the head that cost pounds 1,250.

An Australian journalist had spotted an interview Atherton gave in the Independent in which he was rather less than complimentary about Steve Waugh's part in the 1993 series, which England lost 4-1. It did not matter that the article was nearly a year old. It seems that not only was Waugh the Australians' sledger-in- chief, the prospect of facing fast bowling made him distinctly uneasy.

Atherton told Martin Johnson, the Independent's Cricket Correspondent: 'The one who really got up my nose was Steve Waugh, who spent the entire series giving out verbals - a bit of a joke really as he was the one bloke on either side who was wetting himself against quick bowlers. And there he was standing under your bat ribbing you all the time.'

Waugh is said to be more than a little miffed by this. Atherton played a classically straight bat to the delivery - 'never believe what you read in the papers' - but was not denying that the words were a fair summary of his thoughts.

It was all pretty tame as early jousting goes, and England's welcome was so low-key as to be virtually non-existent.

(Photograph omitted)