Encouraged Paine likes Ashes chances
BRISBANE: It may have lasted less than three days, but Australia’s first test romp over Sri Lanka has been enough to convince captain Tim Paine that depth is building for a successful Ashes defence.
Paine admitted Australia still had a long way to go after their innings and 40run win romp over an outclassed Sri Lanka in Brisbane.
When the dust settled on the brutal win, No 5 ranked Australia still did not boast a batsman who had notched a century this summer.
And Pat Cummins had to rely on a bouncy Gabba deck to become the first Australian bowler to record a maiden 10wicket match haul this season.
Yet Paine believed the portents were good for Australia’s test outfit to clinch its first Ashes series win in the UK since 2001.
‘‘There’s no doubt you have to have options to adapt to different conditions, but what we are seeing over the last 12 months is that we have developed depth in all our areas before we go to England,’’ Paine said.
Indeed, there were positives. New vicecaptain Travis Head struck 84 in Australia’s first innings of 323 — the hosts’ highest individual score of the summer.
And maligned middle order batsman Marnus Labuschagne struck a careerhigh 81.
Then there was the impressive debut of rookie West Australian quick Jhye Richardson, who claimed match figures of five for 45.
After enduring a 21 series loss to India, Paine is suddenly encouraged by Australia’s Ashes prospects before suspended skipper Steve Smith and deputy David Warner rejoin the team in the wake of March’s balltampering scandal.
‘‘When we go to England there are guys that are bowling well . . . And with our batting when Smith and Warner are back on the scene and Cameron Bancroft, all of a sudden you’ve got a number of batters along with the way Marnus and Head are playing,’’ he said.
‘‘And we’ve got [allrounders] Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, as well, so I think [we] are building quite nicely to having an allrounded squad of 15 or 16 players in the next 12 months.’’
Parttime offspinner Roston Chase took eight secondinnings wickets as the West Indies crushed England by 381 runs in the first test in Barbados.
Chase, in the absence of a specialist spinner in the lineup, seized his opportunity with a careerbest haul of eight for 60 at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
West Indies, rank underdog in the series, bowled England out for 246 in the second innings and won with more than a day to spare.
Only opener Rory Burns (84) made a big score as England capitulated from 215 for four to be all out after tea. — AAP