Lyon's perfect response to English sandpaper sledging

Nathan Lyon has shown the rowdy English fans he’s not prepared to taking their sledging lying down during Australia’s tour warm-up victory over Sussex.

The Aussie team was well prepared for a fierce ribbing from the crowd in Hove on Thursday, considering what happened in South Africa and they certainly copped it as Sussex threatened a shock win.

“If you love sandpaper clap your hands”, some fans sang.

But the jovial Aussie spinner was ready for all of it, as he proved as he paced the boundary line as 12th man.

Lyon was reportedly asked by a fan whether he had sandpaper in his pockets.

The off-spinner’s response was perfect.

“Nah mate, just the Ashes,” Lyon said.

Thankfully for the new-look Aussie team, not every interaction was hostile, with many fans and players joining for selfies and a chat as Australia worked their way to a 57 run victory.

Stoinis bashes his way to victory

Marcus Stoinis hopes his blistering century in Australia’s tour warm-up victory over Sussex will earn him an extended run at No.3 for the ODI series with England.

West Australian allrounder Stoinis crafted a classy 110 from 112 balls as the Justin Langer era got off to a winning start in Australia’s return to action for the first time since March’s ball-tampering scandal.

With new coach Langer deprived of the suspended David Warner and Steve Smith in the wake of the sandpaper saga, Stoinis certainly boosted his chances of more game time in England having been shunted up to third in the order.

“We’ll see. I’m not sure if I’ll be there I’ll just go with the flow and see what happens, just be adaptable, I guess,” the 28-year-old said.

“We’ve still got Shaun Marsh on the sidelines today, but he’s been playing a lot of cricket too.

“I’ve been on three tours to England now but haven’t always played a lot of cricket – watching from the sidelines, fetching a few drinks and everything, so hopefully I will get my crack at it this year as I love playing here.

“You need to be peaking at the right sort of time, so I feel good.”

Australia are prepared for fierce ribbing from the English crowds because of what happened in South Africa and they certainly copped it as Sussex threatened a shock win.

“If you love sandpaper clap your hands”, the home fans sung, but Stoinis simply laughed it off as “just good banter.”

He also played down concerns over some sloppy fielding, including four dropped catches, as the Aussies struggled to shake off their ring rust in their 57-run win.

“It’s probably not something we’ve got to work on now,” said Stoinis.

“We work on it every training session. These things happen. First game back, it’s no stress.”

If Langer was concerned at his side’s hot and cold display, he gets a quick opportunity to see them respond when they play Middlesex at Lord’s on Saturday.

The tourists then face England in the first of their five ODIs at the Oval on June 13.