Huge Ashes scandals including sexting, throwing punches and "blatant cheating"
The Ashes is set to get underway on Friday at Edgbaston, with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum's 'Bazball' inspired England side set to take on newly crowned World Test Champions Australia.
The series remains one of sport's greatest rivalries and this year's edition should be a fascinating affair, with England desperate to win back the urn for the first time since 2015 and Australia plotting to win away from home for the first time since 2001.
Over the years, the Ashes has provided many iconic moments, but it has also seen its fair share of controversy. Here, Mirror Sport looks back at six of the biggest Ashes scandals.
Paine's sexting scandal
Ahead of the last Ashes series, Australia captain Tim Paine resigned on the eve of the first Test over a historic sexting scandal. The wicketkeeper sent sexually explicit messages to a female Cricket Tasmania employee in 2017 and was subject to a misconduct investigation at the time, which he said "exonerated" him.
Paine, however, decided to quit as Australia captain when he learned the story was about to be made public four years later. "On reflection, my actions in 2017 do not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain, or the wider community," he said in a statement.
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Paine was replaced as skipper by Pat Cummins and never played for Australia again, instead watching on as his teammates beat England 4-0 to retain the urn. He retired from all forms of cricket earlier this year.
Moeen Ali alleged he was racially abused by an Australian player in the 2015 Ashes (AFP/Getty)Racism allegations
In his 2018 autobiography, England all-rounder Moeen Ali alleged an Australian player made a racist remark towards him during the first Test of 2015 Ashes in Cardiff. He recalled: "An Australian player turned to me on the field and said ' Take that, Osama.' I could not believe what I had heard. I remember going really red. I have never been so angry on a cricket field.
"He came up to me and said, 'I know what you thought I said, but I didn't say that. I've got Muslim friends and some of my best friends are Muslims. I did not argue with him. But I was so clear that is what he said. Why should I invent it out of the blue? I've got nothing against him."
Moeen decided against pursuing action at the time and refused to name the player in question, while a Cricket Australia investigation following the publication of his autobiography ultimately came to nothing.
England controversially sacked Kevin Pietersen after the 2013-14 Ashes (Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images)Pietersen sacked
The 2013-14 Ashes ended in embarrassment for England as they were whitewashed 5-0 by a Mitchell Johnson inspired Australia, with the tour marking the end of Andy Flower's time as coach and Kevin Pietersen's international career. Pietersen was already on thin ice, having been 'reintegrated' into the team just a year earlier after sending derogatory text messages about captain Andrew Strauss to friends in the South African team.
And he had clearly run out of rope following England's Ashes humbling, with the ECB sacking him due to a "breach of trust and team ethics". Pietersen then released a tell-all book, alleging a bullying culture within the England team and taking aim at Flower, wicketkeeper Matt Prior and bowlers Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
His claims were disputed by those involved, with Swann branding them "b*****s" and stating Pietersen spent his final series "trying to get the captain sacked and the coach sacked and generally being a bit of a k**b, bit of a d***head".
David Warner apologises after punching Joe Root in 2013 (Bethany Clarke)Warner punches Root
Australian opener David Warner has been involved in his fair share of controversy over the years and he headed into the 2013 Ashes fresh from serving a suspension for punching England star Joe Root. The incident occurred during the Champions Trophy tournament that preceded the Ashes, with Warner clocking Root in Birmingham's Walkabout bar after the pair were involved in a spat about a fancy dress wig.
Warner promptly apologised and was suspended for four weeks, costing him his Ashes spot as he was unable to feature in any warm-up games. He returned to the side in the third Test, but only managed 138 runs at an average of 23 as Australia lost the series 3-0.
Reflecting on the incident in 2017, Warner said: "It was definitely a pivotal moment. In becoming the person I am today and not just the cricketer. We all go through periods when we're young and naive... but now I have and have a great balance on and off the field."
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Broad refuses to walk
During that same series, there was a much less serious scandal that occurred in the first Test when England star Stuart Broad stood his ground after clearly edging a ball from Ashton Agar to slip, with umpire Aleem Dar giving him not out. Australia had used up all of their reviews at the time and Broad went on to share a crucial partnership with Ian Bell as England won the match.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann was furious and copped a fine for comments made in a radio interview, where he said the incident was "blatant cheating" before adding: "I hope the Australian public give it to him this [Australian] summer and I hope he cries and goes home." Broad was roundly booed during the 2013-14 Ashes, while the Courier-Mail newspaper refused to name him at all in their reports.
"I never once thought 'I'm gonna walk off here'," Broad told BBC Sport of the incident. "I've never walked in cricket, I don't see why I would and in that series 22 different players nicked the ball and didn't walk... A few of the Aussie players came and apologies for their coach and what he said."
Bodyline
The original Ashes scandal, England won the 1932-33 series 4-1 after controversially utilising a tactic known as bodyline bowling. England captain Douglas Jardine instructed his fast bowlers to bowl at the body of Australian batters in the hope of getting them caught by close-in leg side fielders.
The tactic was employed primarily to stop the great Don Bradman, with Harold Larwood the most fearsome exponent of bodyline. It proved successful, with Bradman's series average of 56.57 the worst of his career, but it soured relations between England and Australia.
Australia's captain Bill Woodfull fumed that "there are two teams out there; one is trying to play cricket and the other is not" and the laws of cricket were later changed, restricting the effectiveness of bodyline bowling.
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