Ashes 2023 [WATCH]: UK and Australia Prime Ministers indulge in a funny banter ahead of the fourth Test in Manchester

The rivalry between England and Australia on the cricket field is well-known and is considered to be one of the best in the Test format. The recent funny banter between UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese further highlighted the passion the two nations share for the sport. It is worth mentioning that the playful exchange between Sunak and Albanese took place during a meeting on the sidelines of a NATO event.

With England’s cricket team currently lagging behind Australia in the Ashes 2023 series, Albanese presented Sunak with a piece of paper displaying the scoreline, which read “2-1 (Aus-England)”, as the two representatives of their respective nations posed for photographs. Sunak quickly retaliated with a countermove to the cheeky gesture of the Australian PM and produced a photograph capturing the jubilant celebrations of England batters Mark Wood and Chris Woakes after their victory in the third Test match on Sunday at Headingley in Leeds.

However, the banter didn’t end there, and Albanese took the exchange one step further by pulling out a photo of England’s wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow‘s controversial dismissal to tease Sunak. The UK PM at first seemed baffled but then responded with a quick-witted reference to the infamous ball-tampering scandal committed by the Australian team in 2018 and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t bring my sandpaper with me.” The clip of the same was shared by Aussie PM on his official Twitter handle and has ever since gone viral on the internet.

Here’s the video:

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And of course we discussed the #Ashes pic.twitter.com/FeKESkb062

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 11, 2023

Speaking of the ongoing Ashes 2023, Australia currently leads the five-match series against England (2-1), with the visitors emerging victorious in the first two Tests and the hosts pulling off a close win in the third game. The fourth Test between the arch-rivals will commence from July 19 at Old Trafford in Manchester.