It would be advantage Australia during the Ashes as they can play at “different tempos”, while England only know how to play “really hard”, feels former Test skipper of the touring side Tim Paine.
Paine, a wicketkeeper-batter, had stepped down as Australia captain days before the last Ashes series at home due to a ‘sexting’ scandal and was replaced by pacer Pat Cummins as Test skipper.
Australia defeated Ben Stokes’s England by two wickets in a thrilling Ashes opener at Edgbaston with Cummins scoring an unbeaten 44 and guiding the visitors to victory when things had started to look difficult.
Time Paine. Pic/AFP
Ahead of the second Test at Lord’s from June 28, Paine, who made an unsuccessful bid to return to the Australia side, said, “They [Australia] can play at different tempos, they can play different scenarios and I think their game will stand up in different conditions.
“England, we know are going to go one way, they’re going to go really hard,” Paine told Sen Radio on Wednesday.
“I think from what I’ve seen earlier and what I thought going into the series, I think that’s where Australia have got the advantage.”
Also Read: England vs Australia: Khawaja to Root, best performers in Ashes 2023 opener
Paine said he had exchanged text messages post the opening Ashes Test victory with Cummins and the skipper sounded thrilled. “I actually spoke to Cummins on text yesterday [Tuesday]. He said, ‘We’ve got one back for us’, yeah look, it was nice sitting on my couch.”
The former captain added that when Alex Carey became the eighth Australian wicket to fall on 227 in the chase of a victory of 282, he almost gave up on his team. But Cummins’s (44 not out) and Nathan Lyon’s (16 not out) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
“At 4 am [Australia time] I must admit, when Alex Carey got out and Nathan Lyon strolled to the crease, I contemplated going to bed because I didn’t want to have to watch the English win.
“But gee, what a partnership, it was two experienced, hardened cricketers, two absolute winners. It was an amazing partnership and a great Test match to watch made even better by the fact that we’re on the right side of it for once.”
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