Comedy between veterans pays dividends

TWO of the oldest heads in the Australian dressing room used a coming-of-age sitcom to inspire them to Test cricket’s Great Escape in Dubai.

Tim Paine and Nathan Lyon came together needing to survive 12 agonising overs to clinch a famous draw for Australia and used the lure of watching an episode of British comedy The Inbetweeners in the team room after play to inspire them home.

Neither the new captain or the veteran custodian of the team song’s families are in the UAE, so Paine and Lyon let themselves be kids again as they tried to relax through one of the most intense periods they are ever likely to encounter.

At eight wickets down, Paine and Lyon allowed their minds to drift to the comical reward of two grown men sinking on to a couch to watch the misadventures of four suburban adolescents.

“We were both a bit nervous, no doubt about that,” said Paine whose 61 off 194 balls was a captain’s knock for the ages. “I felt in a really good space when I was batting with Uz (Usman Khawaja) and got a partnership going. But as the wickets started to fall and the overs were getting closer it was a nervous feeling.

“Lyono (5 not out off 34) and I were actually talking about … just going down to the team room tonight and watching a few episodes of The Inbetweeners. That was what was getting Lyono through, so I just went with him.

“Apparently we’re going to order a pizza, go down to the team room and put Inbetweeners on. That’s our reward. That’s what got us through the last six or seven overs.”