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“That annoyed me”: Paine’s issue with Australia v Pakistan ODI series hot takes
Lachlan Geleit • November 11th, 2024 10:27 pm
Former Test captain Tim Paine has been frustrated by some of the commentary following Australia’s 1-2 ODI series defeat to Pakistan.
After winning the first game at the MCG last Sunday, the Aussies fell in the following two games by nine wickets and eight wickets at the Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium respectively.
Given the comprehensive defeats in the last two games, with the Aussies scoring only 163 and 140 while batting first in both games, many have labelled the series defeat a disaster.
While some are panicking about the state of Australian ODI cricket, Paine called for those commentators to ‘pump the brakes’ as many of the nation’s star players were either rested for the series entirely or were made to miss some games to prepare for the upcoming Test summer.
“That annoyed me,” Paine said on *SEN Tassie*.
“People were saying, ‘Oh, I can't believe how bad the Australian cricket team are’, these are cricket commentators and world-class cricket commentators saying, ‘I can't believe what I'm watching, this the World Cup holders’.
“No, it's not. The World Cup holders are sitting on the couch getting ready for a Test series.
“Six or seven guys were in that team. Let's just pump the brakes on the, ‘I can't believe we're seeing this performance from the world champions’.
“We're blooding some youth to give them experience at the international level whilst the big boys get ready for two hugely important series – one in Test cricket and one in white-ball.
“Relax. It’s okay.”
From the World Cup winning side, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh and Josh Hazlewood missed the series entirely while Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Starc were only available for part of the series due to Test preparations.
After winning the first game at the MCG last Sunday, the Aussies fell in the following two games by nine wickets and eight wickets at the Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium respectively.
Given the comprehensive defeats in the last two games, with the Aussies scoring only 163 and 140 while batting first in both games, many have labelled the series defeat a disaster.
While some are panicking about the state of Australian ODI cricket, Paine called for those commentators to ‘pump the brakes’ as many of the nation’s star players were either rested for the series entirely or were made to miss some games to prepare for the upcoming Test summer.
“That annoyed me,” Paine said on *SEN Tassie*.
“People were saying, ‘Oh, I can't believe how bad the Australian cricket team are’, these are cricket commentators and world-class cricket commentators saying, ‘I can't believe what I'm watching, this the World Cup holders’.
“No, it's not. The World Cup holders are sitting on the couch getting ready for a Test series.
“Six or seven guys were in that team. Let's just pump the brakes on the, ‘I can't believe we're seeing this performance from the world champions’.
“We're blooding some youth to give them experience at the international level whilst the big boys get ready for two hugely important series – one in Test cricket and one in white-ball.
“Relax. It’s okay.”
From the World Cup winning side, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh and Josh Hazlewood missed the series entirely while Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Starc were only available for part of the series due to Test preparations.
