Ashes 2019: Tim Paine Slams the ‘Panic’ Remarks of Jofra Archer

Australia captain Tim Paine has slammed England fast bowler Jofra Archer for his ‘panic’ remark. Archer made the cheeky dig during their unexpected loss to England in the third Ashes Test at Headingley. Australia were on the verge of a win but Ben Stokes‘s stunning 135 not out did the job for England. Stokes led his side to a nail-biting win with the last-wicket stand with Jack Leach. However, Paine also faced criticism for his leading skill.

“No. Jofra is entitled to his opinion — he’s had plenty of those that’s for sure — but as I said, we made some mistakes,” Tim Paine said. “It happens. We have addressed it as a team. I would do some things differently with my field placings. As I said, the mistakes have been made. We have learnt from it.”

“There were times, looking back at it, where it was obvious I should have had the field up and allowed Ben to hit a couple of boundaries so we had more balls at the tailender (Jack Leach). That’s the main thing I would have done differently. It happens in cricket and we have moved on, learnt from it, and we are ready for another great Test match,” he added.

Tim Paine praised Starc for his good performance in the practice match.

“They (Starc’s chances of playing) are good. He is in the 12, so he is close. We will have another look at the wicket – it looks pretty dry and hopefully it has got a bit of pace in it. Starcy bowled superbly last week at Derby. He has been working really hard on getting his length right and we were really impressed. We know what he can do to tail-end batters when he cranks it up. The boys have been calling him ‘the mop’ for a few years now,” the captain said.

“He is a great option for us. We think this wicket might suit him and, if we make that call, we are sure he will do a great job,” he further added.

Paine also praised Usman Khawaja, who is going to miss out the fourth Test, making way for Steve Smith who has been returning after suffering a late concussion in the second Test at Lord’s.

“Usman is a key player but he hasn’t scored the runs that he or we would like. With Smith coming back it was a tough decision to make on Usman. We still think he has got a lot of cricket left in him. He has had a very good Test record over his career and we expect that he will bounce back very strongly,” he concluded.