Looking forward to an exciting era for Australia with best bowling attack in world, says Tim Paine

Aussie captain Tim Paine is evidently proud of his team after they retained the Ashes against England although they didn't win the five-match series after they lost the Oval Test match, wherein Paine, has revealed that he was playing with a broken thumb. England were able to draw the series 2-2 due to the 135-run victory in the fifth Test but Australia got to keep the urn. The gloveman is now looking forward to an exciting and promising home summer which starts when Pakistan, followed by New Zealand, tour Australia.

“I’m looking forward to Australia seeing how far we’ve come this summer,” Paine said in a column for The Australian newspaper. “Last year we were a bit lost and were finding our way,” he added after the side struggled in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

“I know we have found it now and I am confident this group is the beginning of a very exciting era in Australian cricket. We’ve got the best bowling attack in the world and the basis for a great batting line-up.”

Paine has a lot of things to be proud of, including the fact that he has the current best pacer and batsman in the world in his team. Pat Cummins emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the series with 29 wickets and the legendary Steve Smith, a "freak" according to the captain, amassed 774 runs in just seven innings. Meanwhile, the captain also praised Marnus Labuschagne and believes the batsman has “a huge future” ahead.

Amidst all this, he revealed that the fifth Test was a struggle for himself and fast bowler Peter Siddle because they were playing with injuries. While he got his thumb fractured, Siddle was playing with a hip injury. 

“My thumb was broken towards the end of that Test but it is not displaced, so I should be right to get back into training early,” said Paine.

“He has copped a bit of criticism for not bowling as well as… we know he can, but the team knows just how heroic he was. A lot of other people wouldn’t have bowled again in the match, but he pushed on because he didn’t want to leave Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to do extra work.”

“Being captain is draining and I think I should take every chance to recharge my batteries,” he said.

The five home Test series against Pakistan will be starting from November 21.

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