Cricket: Botham stirs up Aussies

First he had a dig at Australia's veteran batsmen, calling them "colonial geriatrics". Now master stirrer Ian Botham has slammed Australia's bowling depth, dismissing the threat of emerging speedsters Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait.

Twenty years after starring in the last English team to win an Ashes test cricket series in Australia, the champion allrounder was in fine form in Brisbane yesterday.

"If [Johnson and Tait] are that good why does Australia always bring guys like Jason Gillespie and Kasper [Michael Kasprowicz] back? If I was in the Australian camp I would be a little worried where my next front-line bowler is going to come from."