Former Kent and England batsman Rob Key has explained why he never minded being sledged while batting – because he felt it meant he had the upper hand in the contest.

Key says his portly figure was often the subject of jibes during a career that saw him make 54 first-class hundreds in 299 games. “I never minded the sledging – it made me feel like I was winning the battle,” he told the Pinch Hitter. “Andrew Hall once asked me, ‘If I covered myself in chocolate would you take a bite out of me?’ I didn’t really get it at the time but it was obviously about being fat.

“They’d call you every name under the sun – generally with me it was fat this and fat that – but it never bothered me. They were trying to get me out. I thought if people resorted to mindless abuse then you’re winning the battle.”

Now a popular Sky Sports Cricket pundit famed for his wry style, Key says he was never shy of sharing a sledge or two himself, with Sussex’s Luke Wright on the receiving end of one of his favourites.

“I used to just enjoy calling people by their wrong names,” he said. “You knew who they were but you’d call them the name of one of their teammates. Luke Wright would have a go at you and you’d say, ‘Piss off Nashy.’ Plenty of people got plenty of abuse in those days but it never bothered me.”

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