26 Established 1961 Sports Wednesday, September 11, 2019 ‘Accidental’ Paine on verge of Ashes landmark

Paine contributed to victory in by ending a run of low scores with a valuable 58

LONDRES: could not do it, while Tasmanian found himself thrust into the captaincy and Michael Clarke, who both had two barely a year later. attempts each, were unable to manage it either. But if Ever since becoming skipper, Paine has face accu- his side avoid defeat in the fifth Test against England at sations that he is both an “accidental” skipper and starting tomorrow, will join the list not worth his place in the side. But having shown of Australia captains who have led the team to an dignity after a dramatic one- loss in the third Ashes series win in England. Test at Headingley, Paine had the satisfaction of It is a feat no Australia captain has achieved since leading the team to an 185-run win at Old Trafford oversaw a 4-1 success 18 years ago. on Sunday that ensured they retained at 2- Waugh, like Chappell, Ponting and Clarke, is one of 1 up with just one to play. Australia’s greatest cricketers. No one, least of all wicketkeeper Paine himself, would suggest he is in that ‘SCARY SMITH’ class and the way in which he inherited the captaincy Much of the credit will go to Smith, who has so far was highly unusual. scored 671 runs at 134.20 with three hundreds, Traditionally, Australia have picked their best 11 including 211 at Old Trafford, in his first series since players first and then opted for one of them as captain, his ban. “He is just a genius and I never had any while in England, where there has long been an doubt he would come back and be the player he emphasis on ‘leadership qualities’, the tendency has was,” said Paine, who made his Test debut in the been to select the skipper first and then find 10 others same match as Smith. to join him. “The scary thing is he’s getting better. I don’t know Paine’s case was different. Following the ball-tam- where it is going to stop but we are enjoying being on pering scandal in Cape Town in March 2018 that saw the ride, that is for sure.” stripped of the captaincy and David Just as Smith is the world’s top-ranked Test bats- Warner removed from the post of vice-captain — with man, Australia spearhead is at the summit both batsmen subsequently given 12-month bans by of the corresponding rankings. Australia — officials needed someone uncont- Most captains are only as good as their players, but MANCHESTER: Australia’s captain Tim Paine (L) and Australia’s Steve Smith (R) celebrate their victory on the field aminated by the incident to lead the team and turned Paine contributed to victory in Manchester by ending after the fourth Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester. — AFP to Paine the morning after ‘Sandpapergate’. a run of low scores with a valuable first-innings 58. Paine, who had made his Australia debut in a Test “In terms of what we’ve been able to achieve as a against at Lord’s in 2010, had been on the group is pretty satisfying from where we’ve come from “Also from where we’ve come from, even from last added: “My dream was to come here and win an Ashes. brink of retiring from cricket in 2017 and taking up a in the last 18 months,” said Paine. “Great character, week (the defeat at Headingley). That was a loss that I certainly didn’t want to be the captain winning the job with an equipment manufacturer instead. But shows the great people we have got and shows we’ve would break a lot of teams but we weren’t.” Ashes. “I am just happy to be a part of it. I could have having forced his way back into the side, the also got some bloody good cricketers in our team. As for personal satisfaction, the 34-year-old Paine been working at Kookaburra so this isn’t bad.” — AFP

With 671 runs from three tests, England greats Boycott, Australia coach Smith has carried bat- ting on his shoulders with some sup- wants struggling port from Labuschagne, who has an Strauss given knighthoods average of 58.2 in the series. Langer called for patience with the young bat- batsmen to ters in the side. LONDRES: England cricket greats and Andrew “He (Smith) has done a lot for Strauss have been given knighthoods by in her resigna- Australian cricket for the last few years tion honours list. step up actually, and so has Dave Warner,” Boycott and Strauss both received the honour for their services to : Australia coach said. “But we’ve also got to sport after outstanding careers for England. Langer has urged the struggling bats- remember, is new to test “We couldn’t be more delighted that Sir joins other men in his team to step up and deliver cricket, Marnus (Labuschagne) is new giants within the sport who have been knighted for their achieve- when the final Ashes test against to , Marcus Harris is new to ments,” England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom England starts at The Oval tomorrow. test cricket, is new Harrison said in a statement. Australia took an unassailable 2-1 lead in to test cricket. “Aside from his achievements on and off the pitch, Andrew is the five-test series following their 185- “You can’t just give them that experi- widely regarded as an exceptional person in our game and this run win in the fourth test at Old Trafford ence, they’ve got to earn that and we’re wonderful accolade will be celebrated around the cricketing world. and now have the chance to wrap up very thankful to have Steve . “Our heartfelt congratulations also go to Sir Geoffrey their first series win in England since We’re lucky to have him but test cricket Boycott, honoured for his long career and passionate dedication 2001, when Steve Waugh’s men won 4-1. takes time. We’ve got to respect that, it to the sport.” Geoffrey Boycott The performances of Steve Smith, takes a lot of time.” Boycott was one of May’s sporting heroes and the former British with an astronomical average of 134.2, While his batsmen have been misfir- Prime Minister spoke of her admiration for his bloody-minded style of had been bestowed on West Indian cricketers including , and , combined ing, Langer has no such problems with play on several occasions. and . with a strong showing from the bowlers, his unit. Pat Cummins has During the painfully slow Brexit negotiations last year, May Boycott was also given a three-month suspended prison sentence have minimised the impact of failures played all four tests and is the pick of the defended her stance by saying: “Can I just say that you might recall in 1998 after being convicted of assault against former girlfriend from the other specialist batsmen during fast bowlers with 24 while Josh from previous comments I have made about cricket that one of my Margaret Moore. the series. Hazlewood has taken 18 from three. cricket heroes was always Geoffrey Boycott. Former England and Middlesex batsman Strauss hit 7,037 runs in Travis Head, , Usman The touring side have James “And what did you know about Geoffrey Boycott? Geoffrey 100 Tests from 2004 to 2012. Khawaja, Marcus Harris, Cameron Pattinson and with two Boycott stuck to it and he got the runs in the end.” Strauss captained England to Ashes triumphs against Australia in Bancroft and have all tests each under their belt in the series, May, who stepped down as Prime Minister earlier this year, once 2009 and 2010/2011, the latter campaign making him the first been posted missing, with experienced and the uncapped is also said she had baked Boycott a batch of chocolate brownies and English skipper to win a Test series on Australian soil since Mike opening batsman Warner the worst of an option. joked that the former batsman still had the Tupperware Gatting in 1986-87. the lot with an average of 9.87. “We’ve literally box she delivered them in. Boycott, 78, was a polarising figure for his -born Strauss served as England’s director of cricket While safe in the knowledge that jumping out of his skin to play the next conservative batting and acerbic personality, but that didn’t stop him between 2015 and 2018 before resigning when his wife suffered the England cannot win the Ashes, Langer test,” Langer said. “Peter Siddle, in those amassing 8,114 Test runs at an average of 47.72 in an England career lung cancer that would eventually lead to her death. said Australia would not be easing off in first two tests, was probably the stand- that ran between 1964 and 1982. The 42-year-old’s time in the England hierarchy was credited with the fifth Test. “You’ve still got to per- out bowler, a great professional and a He was forced to apologise in 2017 after joking that he would have laying the foundations for the team’s first 50-over World Cup victory form, as an Australian test cricketer,” he ripping person to have in the team. to “black up” to receive a knighthood, pointing out that the honour earlier this year. — AFP told reporters. “It’ll be fascinating to see how they “Whether or not winning the Ashes (Cummins and Hazlewood) pull up ... will make a difference, time will tell, but whatever happens we’re lucky to have a you’ve still got to perform whether you couple of other guys who are raring to are young or a veteran.” go if we need them.” — Reuters captain Shakib The “Hit for Six” report details how Cricket ‘heat cricket-playing countries such as India takes blame for and Australia are already being severely impacted by extreme weather events rules’ call in such as droughts, heatwaves and storms Afghan loss that experts say are being made more response to common by climate change. It notes youth matches in Australia DHAKA: Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al have been disrupted due to heat, while Hasan has taken full responsibility for their climate change dire water shortages have hit a tour of shocking home defeat to Test rookies South Africa and flooding has delayed in the one-off match at LONDRES: A joint report by sports cricket in England. Chattogram and says it would be best if researchers and environmental academ- Its authors say they have combined someone else took over the captaincy. ics unveiled yesterday urges cricket climate science with heat physiology to The 32-year-old all-rounder, widely authorities to introduce “heat rules” show how batsmen and wicketkeepers regarded as the best cricketer Bangladesh including postponing games in response are becoming increasingly susceptible has ever produced, took the Test captaincy to climate change. to poorer performances due to the in 2017 from for his sec- The review, by the British conditions. (left) ond stint at the helm after leading them Association for Sustainable Sport and They argue “safety-related heat between 2009 and 2011. two universities, also calls for extra care stress guidelines” are now needed, and War-torn Afghanistan, playing only their orthodox spin bowling. pointed,” Shakib said. “The whole blame around youth players and for manufac- that more games may need to be post- third match after being inducted as a test- Following the World Cup he took a break goes on my shoulders. turers to develop equipment that poned or rearranged to cooler times of playing nation two years ago, completed a during Bangladesh’s dismal tour of Sri “I was very nervous when I came out to enhances air flow, as extreme heat the day. famous victory by defeating Bangladesh by Lanka, where they lost all three one-day bat, and got out the first ball and it was my becomes more common. “Above 35 degrees (Celsius) the 224 runs with 3.2 overs left on the final day internationals but his return failed to inspire fault. I should have taken more responsibility “This is a wake-up call not just for body runs out of options to cool itself,” on Monday. the side to victory against ’s and could have avoided the cut shot. cricket, but for all sport,” said Russell said Mike Tipton, professor of human “It will be best if I didn’t have to lead,” Afghanistan. “We had to play only one hour and 10 Seymour, sustainability manager at and applied physiology at the Shakib told reporters after the match. “I Heavy showers allowed little play on the minutes, and I got out the first ball. So it Lord’s cricket ground in London — the University of Portsmouth and one of the personally believe it will be good for my final day, leaving Afghanistan with a little became harder for the team. The dressing spiritual home of the game — who report’s authors. game. “And if I have to continue leading, more than 18 overs in the final session to room would have felt more comfortable if I wrote the foreword to the report. “For batsman and wicketkeepers even then obviously there is a lot to discuss take the remaining four wickets and force a had stayed out.” “Sportspeople are not by nature sweating has limited impact as the heavy about (with the board).” , while Bangladesh had high hopes of Giving his team zero marks out of 100 for bystanders and we can and must react protective cladding creates a highly Shakib was the lone shining light for avoiding defeat with Shakib unbeaten on 44. the match, Shakib said they had to produce to avoid the crises approaching us. “For humid microclimate next to their bodies.” Bangladesh during the 50-overs World Cup However, he edged spinner Zahir Khan better players if they were to become more every player suffering, there are many He added: “Particular care must be in England, finishing third on the run-get- off the first ball of the session while consistent. “If we want to play well consis- more fans having to work and go about given to young players and the grassroots ters’ list with 606 from eight innings while attempting a cut shot to allow Afghanistan tently, we need to improve our quality and their daily lives in these increasingly of the sport where elite-level cooling also picking up 11 wickets with his left-arm their big breakthrough. “I am really disap- need more quality players.” — Reuters harsh conditions,” he added. facilities simply aren’t available.” -— AFP