Australian Test captain Tim Paine says he “absolutely loved” the social media banter this week in the wake of his recent comments about this summer’s Ashes series.
Paine has made headlines on both sides of the world, after his remarks last week that the series would begin with or without England captain Joe Root, who until recently had refused to commit to travelling to Australia.
Paine was branded “irrelevant” by former England batter Rob Key, whose own mediocre career lasted just 15 matches, during which he averaged only 31.
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“Who was that?” Paine asked on SEN Hobart, before answering his own question.
“That was Rob Key. Speaking of irrelevant.
“You know it’s busy when you constantly refresh how many times you’ve been mentioned (on social media).
“You can’t just flick through. I have been belted, every day, 24 hours a day, and I have absolutely loved it.”
The Barmy Army entered the fray during the week, when they tweeted a stat comparing Root and Paine’s relative batting performances.
“If Joe Root scores 80 more runs than Tim Paine in the first 2 Ashes Tests, his 2021 Test runs will be higher than Paine’s career Test runs,” they wrote.
Paine has made 1534 Test runs, while Root has made 1455 runs this year alone.
It’s a comparison that Paine found laughable.
“I’d like to say ‘apples and oranges’ but it’s not even that,” Paine said.
“The Barmy Army watch a lot of cricket, you would think they would understand the game a little bit better than that.
“I’ve got 1534 more runs than the Barmy Army”
Root, of course, bats at number four for England, while Paine’s first role is as the team’s wicketkeeper.
https://twitter.com/TheBarmyArmy/status/1445806559519457282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“Joe Root – if he wasn’t scoring more runs than me they’d have a serious issue, wouldn’t they?” Paine asked.
“They rely on him to win games of cricket with the bat, I’m a small piece in our jigsaw.
“The Barmy Army enjoy poking fun at me, but that’s fine.”
Travel restrictions are likely to prevent the Barmy Army supporting England in their usual numbers this summer, a fact that the Australian captain said was disappointing.
“It’s actually a bit sad to be honest, because it does really add to the atmosphere, and they are excellent at what they do,” he said.
“Granted, they do re-use a lot of chants from the English Premier League, I don’t think they’ve come up with too much original in the last 20 years.
“But they’re excellent, brilliant to have at a cricket ground.”
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