"Below-average cricket team" - Tim Paine hits back at Ben Stokes' recent claims about England's Test side
Former Australian captain Tim Paine has hit back at Ben Stokes' comments over England's Test side taking pride in entertaining fans, who are gifted to watch them. The Tasmanian has urged the England Test captain to get his 'head around', reminding him England are an average side in red-ball cricket.
Despite England coming off a 4-1 series defeat in India, Stokes stated that their brand of cricket means the team will go down as one of the best in history. The ace all-rounder also claimed that fans are lucky to witness England play Test cricket.
Paine didn't agree with Stokes and said on SEN Tassie Breakfast:
"Oh, mate, I don't know, I think it was taken slightly out of context because he was talking in a changing room and it was a bigger speech, so I will say that. However, it's just this continued belief that they're completely changing the game and they're doing this amazing stuff and everyone's going to remember it … they're not."
Paine reminded Stokes that England are languishing in the bottom half of the WTC points table and have achieved nothing monumental.
"You're coming dead last in the World Test Championship. You're not going to be a team that everyone remembers watching and you're not doing anything outrageously good that we haven't seen before. You're an average cricket team. (Actually) you're at the moment, a below-average cricket team and I think they need to get their head around that a little bit," he added.
While England won the first 11 out of 13 Tests under Stokes, they haven't registered series wins in New Zealand and India. The Englishmen also failed to regain the Ashes against Australia on home soil last year after drawing the five-match series 2-2.
"That's not the Australian cricket team that you're talking to" - Tim Paine
With Stokes responding to Fox Cricket's X handle taking a dig, Paine expressed his surprise and feels the claims are baseless about England living in Aussie cricketers' minds.
"Then secondly, when he replies back on X, I'm not sure who he thinks he's actually talking to. It says, ‘We had our foot on your throats for two days, rent-free and all that’. You’re talking to Fox Cricket production. That's not the Australian cricket team that you're talking to. I don't think you're living rent-free in any of the Australian cricketers’ minds," he said in the same interaction.
England's home summer begins on Wednesday, July 10, against the West Indies.