ASHES WAR OF WORDS DRAGS ON AS PRIOR SLATES LYON FOR 'SCARED' COMMENT

Ex-England wicketkeeper branded the Australian spinner "ridiculous"

The Ashes war of words that has eaten up much of the build-up to this winter's series shows no sign of abating.

Following Nathan Lyon's extraordinary comments on Monday, during which he claimed Matt Prior was scared of Mitchell Johnson and suggested he and his Australia team-mates are out to "end careers", ex-England wicketkeeper Prior has hit back.

Prior, who was dropped during the 2013/14 Ashes, responded to suggestions from Lyon that the former Sussex man wanted to "fly home" during that campaign.

"If that was the case and I was scared, why didn't I go home then?" Prior said. "I have no idea where this has come from. It's completely ridiculous and all I can do is laugh. It is wholeheartedly untrue.

"I stayed out there and what hurt me more was that I was dropped for the last two Tests because I wasn't playing well.

"I hope the first Test goes well for Nathan. I will be watching with interest to see how he goes. He has other things to worry about rather than thinking about me. I hope he lets his cricket do the talking now."

Last time someone spouted a whole load of BS about me I stayed quiet not this time.To be clear I may have been playing badly fair enough but there was no way I was getting on a plane home. You’ve embarrassed yourself @NathLyon421 & this game has a funny way of biting back.

— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13) November 21, 2017

I sincerely hope you’re not part of a losing @CricketAus team on home soil @NathLyon421. I still remember being sat on the outfield at the SCG after winning 3-1 while your press&fans were tearing into the Oz players. You want to end careers? Just make sure its not yours that ends

— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13) November 21, 2017

^{Matt Prior has hit back at Nathan Lyon}

Prior - a multiple Ashes winner with seven Test centuries to his name - followed up those comments with more stinging criticism of Lyon on Twitter on Tuesday.

"Last time someone spouted a whole load of BS about me I stayed quiet not this time," he wrote.

"To be clear I may have been playing badly fair enough but there was no way I was getting on a plane home. You’ve embarrassed yourself @NathLyon421 & this game has a funny way of biting back.

"I sincerely hope you’re not part of a losing @CricketAus team on home soil @NathLyon421. I still remember being sat on the outfield at the SCG after winning 3-1 while your press&fans were tearing into the Oz players.

"You want to end careers? Just make sure its not yours that ends."

MORE FROM THE CRICKETER: Warner gives Australia an injury scare

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WHAT LYON HAD SAID

ON PRIOR...

"Seeing Mitchell Johnson scare all the Poms was unbelievable. I was at leg slip and I nearly had to push a couple of the guys back towards the stumps. It was good fun.

"Leading into Perth we knew that they were broken. We knew Matt Prior wanted to fly home before the game started and he was one of the senior players. He was scared."

ON JOE ROOT...

"I know Root got dropped last time when he was here so it'd be good to get him dropped again, wouldn't it? 

"If we can start by opening up that crack it would be crucial."

ON ENDING CAREERS...

"I don't want Joe to go out there and say, 'Mate, there you go, here's a hundred today'. I want to take his wicket. I didn't end any careers last time, Mitchell Johnson did.

"If you ask him he'll say it was quite satisfying."

ON ENGLAND'S INEXPERIENCE...

"We will respect the new guys but they don't know the pressures of Ashes cricket yet. They will no doubt understand it pretty quickly. It's a tough place to play."

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