The back-end of the Ashes series witnessed some spice on the field when England captain Ben Stokes and Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne were involved in a fiery exchange at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday.
Despite putting on a hefty 384 on the back of Joe Root’s record-breaking 160, his 41st Test century, across two days, Australia munched into the visitors’ lead in quick time with in-form Travis Head storming to a quick-fire half-century.
Batting alongside Marnus Labuschagne for the second wicket, Head continued his onslaught with a steady diet of boundaries. Labuschagne seemed to have hit Stokes’ nerve when his constant jibes from the non-strikers’ end coincided with Head slamming the England captain for two consecutive fours.
As Stokes walked back, he could be seen hurling back a few words while wrapping an arm around Labuschagne and extending the conversation.
According to news.com.au, Stokes appeared to tell the Aussie No. 3 to “shut the **** up.”
Things got pretty heated 👀#Ashes pic.twitter.com/UHum32WUH0
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 5, 2026
Stokes proceeded to pat Labuschagne on the shoulder and walked away as the umpires stepped in between them.
Stokes, however, had the last laugh on the day as he proceeded to dismiss Labuschagne shortly thereafter, caught at gully on 48. England’s agony on the field on a gruelling summer tour, where they find themselves 3-1 down, continued as Head rampaged his way to an unbeaten 91 off 87 deliveries before stumps. Australia raced to 166 for two inside 35 overs, reducing the trail to only 218 runs.
However, former cricketers took note of the Stokes-Labuschagne altercation as a key moment of the day with Australia pace legend Brett Lee questioning Stokes’ decision to put an arm around Labuschagne during the heated exchange.
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‘Was that a squeeze?’
“Should you touch another player? The answer is no,” Lee said on the Fox Sports commentary box.
“But is there anything wrong with that? I’d say no.
“Was it a squeeze? Was he trying to defuse the situation?”
Lee rued that it was unfortunate that the visible tiffs between the teams was only at the back-end of the season in the New Year’s Test, well after the series has been decided after Australia’s thumping start.
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“I want to see this in the first Test. This is what the Ashes are about. You’re playing for your country, so get out there and have a crack.”
“It’s the fifth Test match, it’s a little bit late for that now. He might have a trip to the match referee after that moment,” said Australia women’s team captain, Alyssa Healy.
Former Australia wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist recounted how tensions flared quite often during the final Test of Ashes series during his career.
“It just got a bit heated, maybe (because) it’s the fIfth Test and maybe everyone is getting a bit tired,” Gilchrist said on Kayo Sports’ live Ashes coverage.
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“This confrontation between Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschange, the verbal started and where has it been (before this Test)? It looked like it was done and dusted after a bit of backchat, but something caught Stokes’ attention and he goes back to Marnus and actually puts his arm around him.
“I don’t know whether that was trying to defuse the situation, but it still looked like it was pretty heated,” Gilchrist remarked.
“Should you be touching an opposition player in any fashion?”But this is what we expect in an Ashes series.”
