England star Harry Brook has insisted he "doesn't care" if Australia look to sledge him in the Ashes.
Brook is set for his first taste of the Ashes rivalry this summer when England look to regain the urn from Australia for the first time since 2015 in a five Test series. England were thrashed 4-0 in the 2020-21 series, but have been completely transformed since then by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
And Brook has been a big part of their recent success, embracing England's new 'Bazball' approach and smashing 809 runs at an average of 80.90 in his first six Tests. After making such a stunning start to life as a Test cricketer, Brook believes he will be unfazed by any verbals that come his way during the Ashes.
"To be honest I don't care - I really don't care," Brook told BBC Sport when asked about the prospect of some Ashes sledging. "The way I am going to play, the way we are playing, we will look to be positive and put pressure on them.
"If they bowl a bad ball I will try and hit it for four or six. It doesn't matter who you are - whether you are the best bowler in the world."
And while Brook has never featured in an Ashes Test before, he did get a taste of Australian hospitality when he spent a season playing grade cricket in Sydney for the University of New South Wales.
"No matter what level, they are very competitive people," Brook added. "Some of them probably think they are a little bit better than they are.
"There was a lot were saying they could have played first-class cricket in England when they were just playing grade cricket in Australia. There were little bits, one or two games, where there were fairly big sledges.
"I don't sledge but I have copped a bit in my time. I scored quite a few runs. People don't tend to give you much when you are scoring runs."
