The Ashes: James Anderson 'one of the biggest sledgers in the game' insists Steve Smith in response to 'bully' claims

England bowler made his comments in a newspaper column and the Australia captain has duly responded ahead of the second Test in Adelaide.

Steve Smith, left, and James Anderson exchange words during Day 3 of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

Steve Smith returned fire on Friday after a taunt by James Anderson that Australia are bullies, calling the England paceman one of the biggest sledgers in cricket as insults flew ahead of the second Test.

Smith also denied laughing at England over the Jonny Bairstow headbutt incident in what has become a fiery build-up to the first day-night Ashes Test, at Adelaide Oval from Saturday.

Fast bowler Anderson called the Australian team "bullies" in a newspaper column as the tourists fume over the reaction to the Bairstow controversy, following their 10-wicket defeat in Brisbane.

The Australians used the incident, described by Bancroft as "weird" greeting by Bairstow, to get under the wicketkeeper's skin as England collapsed in their second innings.

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"A bully waits until they are in the ascendancy to pounce on people. That is what Australian teams do," Anderson wrote in his column.

Smith didn't hold back when asked for his response to England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker.

"I read the article. I think it's interesting coming from Jimmy calling us bullies and big sledgers," Smith told reporters. "I think he's one of the biggest sledgers in the game to be perfectly honest with you."

Smith recounted times in his career when he was targeted by Anderson.

"I remember back in 2010 when I first started and wasn't any good, he was pretty happy to get stuck into me then," he said. "Interesting coming from Jimmy."

Joe Root: England outplayed Australia most of the time in Brisbane

Smith also said he wasn't mocking the England team when he laughed along as Bancroft recounted Bairstow's headbutt in a Perth bar earlier in the tour.

England captain Joe Root on Friday said he was "very disappointed" at Smith's reaction and that his team would use it as motivation.

"I certainly wasn't mocking his team. I was laughing at Cameron and the way he delivered the events of what had happened," Smith said.

"He was very dry and different in the way things came across. You guys got a good laugh out of it as much as I did. I'm happy to clarify that with Joe Root, no problem there at all."

Smith, who announced an unchanged team, said despite all the noise he didn't believe the Ashes series would boil over.

Barefoot Bancroft. Australia’s opener gets a feel for pitch @TheAdelaideOval ahead of 2nd Test starting tomorrow #Ashes pic.twitter.com/KsbZqHbYkq

— Andrew Ramsey (@ARamseyCricket) December 1, 2017

"I don't think so. It's an Ashes series, there's always that banter on and off the field," he said. "I think it's just about playing the game, getting out there and playing cricket and getting on with it."

Smith said he "out-performed" England's bowlers in Brisbane, but expected them to come back hard under the Adelaide lights.

"You're only as good as your last game. I out-performed them last game, there's no doubt they'll come out hard again," he said.

"They're good bowlers, they've got good skills. As a collective batting group we'll have to be at our best to score runs against them."

Watch live as Aussie skipper Steve Smith speaks with the media on the eve of the second #Ashes Test. https://t.co/RdidLxbfMD

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 1, 2017

Smith was the point of difference in the Brisbane Test victory with his match-turning unbeaten 141 off a marathon 326 balls. He said he was prepared to do it all over again in Adelaide.

"That's cool. I'm happy with that, I love batting so I'm happy to stay out there for as long as I can to be perfectly honest," he said.

"If it takes me 300 balls to get a 100, then it'll take me 300 balls. That'll also tire the bowlers quite a bit too, so it's a bit of a win-win, if that's the case."