England captain Ben Stokes and Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne were involved in a fiery exchange at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 final Test, and several former Australian cricketers have reacted to the same.

Australia already retained the five-Test Ashes by winning the first three matches in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide. But England has shown the rigors of a fight that saw them win the 4th Test.

The ongoing fifth Test has seen some spicy on-field altercations unfold as Ben Stokes looked to unnerve Marnus Labuschagne towards the end of the second day’s play in Sydney.

Labuschagne appeared to have tapped Stokes' nerve, as his frequent jibes from the non-striker's end coincided with Head slamming the England captain for two straight fours. As Stokes walked back, he could be seen shouting back a few words while placing his arm around Labuschagne and continuing the chat.

According to news.com.au, Stokes appeared to tell the Aussie batter to "shut the **** up." The incident even prompted the umpires to intervene. Stokes proceeded to pat Labuschagne on the shoulder and walked away as the umpires stepped in between them.

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Former cricketers, however, saw the Stokes-Labuschagne altercation as a watershed point of the day, with Australia pace star Brett Lee criticizing Stokes' decision to put his arm around Labuschagne during the heated discussion.

"Should you touch another player? The answer is no. But is there anything wrong with that? I'd say no. Was it a squeeze? Was he trying to defuse the situation? I want to see this in the first test. This is what the Ashes are about. You're playing for your country, so get out there and have a crack,” Brett Lee said on Fox Sports.

Given that the series' outcome was already certain, Australian women's cricket player Alyssa Healy also believed that Stokes and England's assertiveness was too late.

"It's the fifth Test match; it's a little bit late for that now. He might have a trip to the match referee after that moment,” said Alyssa Healy.

Former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist recounted how tensions flared quite often during the final Test of the Ashes series during his career.

“It just got a bit heated, maybe (because) it’s the fifth Test and maybe everyone is getting a bit tired. This confrontation between Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne—the verbal started, and where has it been (before this test)? It looked like it was done and dusted after a bit of backchat, but something caught Stokes’ attention, and he went back to Marnus and actually put his arm around him.

I don’t know whether that was trying to defuse the situation, but it still looked like it was pretty heated. Should you be touching an opposition player in any fashion? But this is what we expect in an Ashes series,” Gilchrist said on Kayo Sports’ live Ashes coverage.

Australia ended day two on 166/2 with Travis Head on 91* in reply to England’s first innings total of 384.