I guess when you are six foot twenty you don't very often get told to fvck off, especially when you are the one with the missile, so when someone does eventually tell you to fvck off you are likely to go off instead:
Curtly Ambrose autobiography reveals what Steve Waugh said that sparked famous battle
The famously media-shy paceman reveals it was fellow quick Kenny Benjamin who sparked the battle by telling Ambrose that Waugh had “cursed” at him.
“When I finish my stare at a batsman I turn round pretty quickly and therefore I didn’t hear him.”
Imagine what Big Curt would have done if Waugh had really given it to him. Then again, a few contemptuous and dismissive words are always more likely to get under the skin.