The Ashes: Jofra Archer rattles Aussies with his mouth as well as ball as Tim Paine admits Headingley ‘mistakes’
TIM PAINE has the most appropriate-sounding surname of any sportsman to appear at Old Trafford since Roy Keane was in his pomp.
The Australia captain’s agony was clear as he spoke about his side blowing a victory which would have seen them retain The Ashes in the Third Test at Headingley.
Paine admitted to captaincy errors and bristled at a suggestion from Jofra Archer that his side ‘panicked’ when Ben Stokes and Jack Leach staged their epic 76-run final-wicket stand to hand England their extraordinary one-wicket win.
And before today’s Fourth Test in Manchester, the skipper spat back: “Jofra is entitled to his opinions — he’s had plenty of those, that’s for sure.
“I was told a few things he said when we were playing at Derby last week… and talk is talk.
“What’s happened in the past has happened. Jofra is entitled to his opinion. It hasn’t fazed us one way or another.”
You could have fooled us, Tim, old son.
The Aussies have recalled legendary former skipper Steve Waugh to his mentoring role after he had headed home for the Headingley Test.
Jofra Archer vs Steve Smith
Archer’s first ball at Steve Smith to be over 90mph: 2/5
Archer’s first ball to Smith to be a bouncer: 9/4
Archer to get Smith out in the Test Match: 11/10
Archer to get 5 wickets in an innings: 6/1
Smith to score 50 runs off of Archer’s bowling alone in the Test Match: 5/2
Smith to score a run off Archer’s first ball: 4/1
Smith to score a century in the Test Match: 7/4
Odds: SportNation.bet
And coach Justin Langer has admitted he felt ‘physically sick’ after England’s series-levelling win, saying ‘I wasn’t sure whether to cry my eyes out or smash my hotel room’.
Paine admitted he blundered with his field placings in that frantic final hour at Leeds, allowing Stokes to farm the strike so England’s No 11 Leach faced only 17 balls.
He said: “We made some mistakes, we’ve addressed it as a team, we’ve talked about it honestly. I’m certainly one of those people who made mistakes.
“I’d have done some things differently with my field placings.
‘GREATEST PROBLEM-SOLVER’
“Looking back at it, there were times when it was really obvious I should have had the field up and even allowed Ben to hit a couple more boundaries so we could have more balls at the tail-ender.
“But I didn’t do that, the mistake has been made and we have learned from it.”
While Archer has rattled the Aussies with his words as well as his rapid bowling, Paine is relieved to have Steve Smith back after he missed the Leeds Test, having been struck on the neck and concussed by an Archer bouncer at Lord’s.
Smith is now ranked as the No 1 batsman in the world again — averaging 126 in these Ashes — following his one-year ban for presiding over the ball-tampering scandal.
And Paine said: “Everyone in the world is looking forward to seeing Steve Smith bat.
“He came back from a 12-month lay-off pretty well so I’m sure he can handle a few days without batting.
“He’s the No 1 batsman in the world and he’s told us about it this morning.
“He’s the greatest problem-solver in cricket. Teams throw everything at him and he has the ability to deal with it on the spot.”
Australia have ditched senior pro Usman Khawaja to accommodate Smith’s return and are likely to include left-arm quick Mitchell Starc in place of James Pattinson.
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But Paine, 34, said off-spinner Nathan Lyon — the fall-guy of Headingley after dropping a clear run-out chance to win the Test by one run — is fuelled by a desire to redeem himself.
He said: “Nathan’s ready to go. He is really driven for the last two Tests.
“I think he’s found out who his friends are in the last week and he’s driven to prove people wrong, like he’s done his whole career.”