Glenn McGrath has leapt to the defence of David Warner's "hatred" comments directed at England ahead of the Ashes, and believes more players should speak their minds ahead of major Test series.
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Warner has come under fire from several retired English players after suggesting, "you have to delve and dig deep into yourself to actually get some hatred about them".
Former opening batsman Marcus Trescothick labelled Warner's comments "pathetic", while Michael Vaughan, Geoffrey Boycott and Kevin Pietersen all took offence to the hard-hitting Aussie's abrasive comments.
But McGrath, never afraid to speak his mind during a career spent tormenting England, said Warner's verbal barbs simply added to the Ashes intrigue.
"It's good to see Davey coming out, you need more characters in the game, I think that's one thing that's missing," McGrath said. "I'd like to see the guys have a little bit more confidence in letting their true self come out and have a go and make a few predictions and target a few people.
"He's a confident person Davey. There's always going to be a bit of to and fro and so it should be. It's got to be competitive, there's feelings but it's played in the right spirit.
"You need to be confident and if people aren't confident, they don't say anything. It's good to make the odd statement too, it's a gutsy move because then you've got to go and back it up.
"There's got to be a bit of feeling, a bit of attitude and that's what it's about."
Speaking at the launch of the annual Jock Athletic Running Festival where almost $5000 was raised for the Jane McGrath Foundation on Friday, McGrath also delivered his standard Ashes prediction suggesting Australia would win the series five-nil.
A three-pronged pace attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins is expected to descend upon England when the Gabba Test begins on November 23, although James Pattinson won't be there after succumbing to back problems earlier this month.
England are staring at a more gaping omission following the arrest of all-rounder Ben Stokes last month. Whether he lines up at some stage during the summer remains to be seen.
"It's not good for cricket unfortunately," McGrath said.
"You want to beat England at their best, there's no doubt about that and Ben Stokes is a quality player. It's disappointing what's happened off the field and the authorities will do what they need to do and after that we'll see what happens.
"He's a huge loss, there's no doubt about it, he's two players in one but it's fine being a quality player on the field, you still have to hold yourself off the field too."
