VB celebrates Australia’s Ashes victory over Poms with England Bitter

Beer giant Carlton United Breweries (CUB) is bringing ‘England Bitter’ to Australian shores in another cheeky dig at the old enemy after the Ashes victory.

CUB released the beer earlier this month on the back of England’s controversial loss to Australia in the second Ashes Test.

The brewer produced a limited-edition ‘England Bitter’ for Ben Stokes and his team after their coach Brendon McCullum said they wouldn’t be having a beer with their rivals ‘anytime soon’.

A special-edition ‘England Bitter’ beer was created for the English cricket team

Slabs of the beer, branded in the same recognisable green-labelled bottles as VB, were sent to skipper Ben Stokes (pictured) and the rest of the England side

Cases of the lager, branded in the same recognisable green-labelled bottles as VB, were put on a plane and sent to the English team at Headingley. 

Attached to the beverages was a note telling the Brits to drink the gift warm or cold, whatever the result of the third clash in the series may be.

‘You can get it not protecting your stumps, you can get it ignoring the umps,’ the note said, in a nod to the iconic advertisement jingle.

Free T-shirts with the England Bitter logo were also given out to Aussie fans at the match. 

On Monday, the brewer told Daily Mail Australia it was bringing ‘England Bitter’ to Australia on the back of ‘massive public demand’.

‘The response from the Australian public was amazing. The England Bitter campaign reflected the pulse of the nation, so what better way to say ‘cheers’ to retaining the trophy than with an England Bitter,’ VB spokesman Marc Lord said. 

CUB is brewing a limited run of England Bitter stubbies to go on sale early next month. 

England Bitter made international headlines when it was bundled on a plane and delivered to the England cricket team to help them commiserate their disappointment over the Aussies’ famous victory in the second Test, which gave Australia a 2-0 series lead.

England coach Brendon McCullum said his team wouldn’t have a beer with their rivals after the stumping dismissal of Jonny Bairstow (pictured) caused high drama in the Lord’s Test 

The brewer even re-recorded the iconic VB jingle in the great tradition of banter between the two great cricketing nations.

‘Australia’s draw overnight at Old Trafford – thanks to some traditional English summer rain – means we retain the trophy,’ Mr Lord said. 

‘We raise our glass to the English and how they fought their way back into the series. We hope both teams can share a nice England Bitter together in the changerooms, without any bitterness. We’ll even throw in the ice so the players don’t have to drink it warm.’

The brewer will release a limited run of 30,000 cases of England Bitter, which will go on sale at major bottle shops across the country.

Jonny Bairstow’s stumping saw the Brits crack the sads amid claims Australia needed to cheat to beat them.

Bairstow, whose home ground is Headingley, walked from his crease after the last ball of Cameron Green’s over and was stumped by a throw from Aussie keeper Alex Carey on the last day of the Lord’s Test.

England admitted the decision was correct, but slammed the Aussies for taking the wicket, which they believed was against the spirit of the game.

Australia believed it was fair and square, with the prime ministers of both nations  becoming involved in the debate, each backing their sides to the hilt.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Bairstow to ‘harden up’ during a TV appearance, while a spokesman for his British counterpart Rishi Sunak said, ‘The Prime Minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did.’