Ashes 2023 | Ben Stokes’ funky field placements won’t make him genius, opines Tim Paine
Tim Paine has taken a dig at Ben Stokes, saying he is not at all genius just because he makes ‘funky fields’. The former Australian skipper has also remarked on the recent result of the nerve-racking Ashes Test at Edgbaston, stating that the outcome was ‘pretty much as expected’ amidst Bazball hype.
Ahead of the first of the five-match Ashes series, fans were eagerly anticipating how the revamped English side, under the leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, would perform against the mighty Australians, who recently won the ICC World Test Championship title. Since the duo took charge, England had won 11 of 13 Tests before the fixture, and they almost made 12 out of 14 but failed to achieve the feat courtesy of Pat Cummins’ stupendous batting display at the Edgbaston. Thanks to Cummins’ brilliance, ably supported by Nathan Lyon, Australia registered an enthralling two-wicket victory which will remain one of the greatest Test matches of all time.
Speaking to the SEN podcast ‘Whateley’, Tim Paine was giving his opinion about Australia’s historic Edgbaston Test victory. The former Aussie skipper revealed that he was expecting the result anyway against Stokes and his boys, who, according to him, are overhyped.
“I thought it was pretty much as I expected to be honest. I think Australia were always going to set slightly what you can call defensive fields if you like. I think they were no different really to Ben Stokes,” Paine was quoted as saying at ‘Whateley’, reported Hindustan Times.
“Ben Stokes and England make some funky fields and all of a sudden it's genius. Australia put a couple of people on the fence and all of a sudden it's defensive. I think there were some clear strategies from both sides, whether it was attack or defense.”
England will next play against Australia on June 28 at Lord’s for the second Test of the five-match series. Then they will play at Headingley, Manchester, and The Oval for the remaining fixtures.