England great David Gower has lit the fuse ahead of Saturday’s Champions Trophy opener between the Ashes counterparts, standing by his description of Australians as cultureless.

Asked by a radio station to explain how the Ashes resembled a clash of cultures, Gower didn’t miss a chance to kick the colony when it’s down with captain Michael Clarke on the injured list.

“How can you have a clash of cultures when you’re playing against a country with no culture?” mused Gower.

The legendary batsman went on to describe Australian fans as “feral” and the country’s Test players as having a “certain animal mentality”.

Gower has been heavily criticised in some sections for speaking out naively but, during television commentary of Wednesday’s one-dayer between England and New Zealand, he defended the comments as being “whimsical”.

England gained some timely confidence in their 34-run win over the Black Caps, which avoided an embarrassing clean-sweep at the hands of the tourists.

Strike weapons Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann were rested to be ready to go to take on Australia at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Bean-pole quicks Stuart Broad (2-56) and Steven Finn (2-57) made their returns from injury, in a win set up by the near record-breaking hitting of Jos Buttler (47 from 16) as England set a target of 288.

England will hold an optional training session at Edgbaston on Thursday.