Ashes 2019 | To captain a side that has retained the Ashes in England is something I’ll never forget, says Tim Paine

Ashes 2019 | To captain a side that has retained the Ashes in England is something I’ll never forget, says Tim Paine

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Australian captain Tim Paine admits that he will never forget the opportunity he got to captain the side that has retained the Ashes ‘urn’ on foreign soil. Despite their achievements, Paine hopes that the Aussie squad continues to push their limits and become one of the toughest teams to beat.

Ever since the famed summer of 2005, the Ashes has largely been a one-sided affair with either side victorious on different occasions. And so, as the 2019 edition of the oldest rivalry in the game of cricket approached, cricket fans all around the globe were crying out – not literally – for an intensely-fought series. And with England’s win at The Oval – ending the series 2-2 – the spectators were treated to exactly what they ordered. 

As for Paine, the series was a clear validation to his captaincy – one that fell on his lap out of chance just as he pondered quitting the game for good. 

"I didn't think I would still be doing it, to be honest. Very lucky to be in the position I am in and to be captain of a team that has come here and retained the Ashes is something I will never forget. This game [the fifth Test] puts a bit of a dampener on it. But overall if you said we would be taking the urn home we would have jumped at that. Taking the urn home was what we came here to do. We're thrilled by that," Paine said, reported Cricbuzz.

Quite obviously, there isn’t much for the Australian skipper to regret, although his team dropped some crucial points in the Test Championship. But having arrived at Edgbaston on the back of a thrashing at the hands of England in the World Cup semi-final, returning home with the urn in itself is a massive achievement for the Aussies. The skipper agrees that the win in the first Test despite all the hype around Edgbaston being a fortress for England proved to be the turning point in the series.

"Certainly Edgbaston. There was so much talk of it being a fortress and how difficult it was going to be for us to start the series. So for us to win that Test quite convincingly gave us the belief that we could do it and gave us a taste of how we wanted to play over here would work. To get that confirmation so early in the series and made it easier for the guys to stick with what we wanted to do," Paine said.

The 34-year-old knows that there isn’t much time left for him in the national team, whether as captain or player, but he hopes the boys can stress even further on improving until they become one of the dominant forces in world cricket once again.

"Every team needs to keep improving. Steve is the best player in the world and he is still improving. The moment we stop thinking we need to improve there is something wrong. As a whole series, we had a whole heap of good moments in a country where Australia hasn't had a lot of success for a long time. But if we can click them into gear when he is at the height of his powers and with the pace attack we have got, in the next few years we are going to be a hard team to beat," Paine added.

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