Ashes 2023: Australia's Depth And Ability To Play In Any Situation Gives Them Advantage Over England, Says Tim Paine

AUS vs ENG Ashes Test: Former Australia Test skipper Tim Paine reckons the depth in Pat Cummins and Co, as well as their ability to play in any situation gives them the edge over England in the ongoing Ashes series, while adding that the tourists will get better with every match.

Australia kickstarted Ashes 2023 with a thrilling two-wicket victory over England at Edgbaston and are entering the second Test at Lord’s starting from Wednesday with a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

"We had a number of our good players down and I think our depth and our ability to play any situation and any condition and at any tempo is a real advantage in this series given we know how England are going to play.

They’re going to come really hard and it makes them quite predictable. We know how they're going to play, they'll play into our hands a little bit and we can play on their ego. Our depth and the fact that some of our very best players were down means I think we’ll get better as the series goes on," said Paine to SEN Radio.

Paine also suggested a green wicket is being prepared for the Lord's Test after England's plan of using a hard and flat pitch at Edgbaston didn't yield desired results.

"We heard pre-series that they wanted hard and flat wickets. They got that in the first Test and it didn’t quite pan out. If you look at tonight’s pitch, it looks like everyone's backyard in Australia, so it's going to be interesting. They’re obviously trying to bring (Stuart) Broad and (Jimmy) Anderson back into the Test match. They didn't have much of an impact (in Birmingham)," he said.

The former Australian skipper further remarked that the inclination of England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum towards playing an aggressive and entertaining brand of cricket comes in the way of making decisions at times.

"It's been interesting and really fascinating to watch when you’ve got a captain (Stokes) and a coach (McCullum) who are really similar. They’ve both kind of got pretty big egos, they’re both very aggressive, and always wanting to move the game forward.

The brand they’re trying to play is excellent, it’s great to watch. I think at times it goes over into their decision making, we saw with the declaration (in the first innings) and some of the things they did during that Test match," said Paine.

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"At times you’ve just got to use some cricket smarts and know when to put the foot on the accelerator and when to absorb some pressure. So far we’ve seen that they are going to keep putting their foot on the accelerator," he concluded.