The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Paine’s delight with attitude of dropped pair
Tim Paine was delighted by the way Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood reacted to missing out on the first Ashes Test – but is preparing to disappoint one of the pace duo for the second time at Lord’s.
Australia sprang something of a surprise by leaving the pair out at Edgbaston, but a 251-run win vindicated their selection.
James Pattinson has been rested after making his Test comeback after almost three years in Birmingham, opening a spot in the attack.
However, with Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle set to continue, Paine can only give good news to one of his senior seamers.
“They are both world-class bowlers and when you leave guys like that out you can see what sort of people they are and we’ve been really impressed with both of them,” he said.
“We are absolutely rapt the way they have gone about it and whichever one of those two we unleash, they are certainly ready to go.
“Obviously, they were both disappointed but they are really both excellent team men.
“It’s always nice from a captaincy and a leadership point of view when you’ve got two senior players who are worldclass left out and they cop it on the chin, run drinks and train their backsides off in the lunch hours and tea breaks. It sets a really good example for the rest of our team.”
Having two men with a combined Test wicket haul of 381 vying to come into a winning team is a luxury for Paine, who has also been able to manage Pattinson’s workload as a result.
The 29-year-old’s career has been interrupted by major injury problems but there is no longer any need to put too many demands on him, meaning he is now likely to return refreshed for the third Test at Headingley.
“We want to make sure he’s cherry ripe for the next three or four years. In the past we’ve got him back, kept using him and kept bowling him and eventually he’s broken again.
“He’s available for selection but we’ve decided to rest him for this game to make sure his long term future is in really good shape.”