ENG vs AUS: Tim Paine Hits Back At Michael Vaughan's 'I've Never Seen Australia Play With So Much Fear' Remark

Former Australia captain Tim Paine responded to former England cricketer Michael Vaughan’s criticism of Australia’s batting performance on Day 2 of the fifth Ashes Test. Tim Paine highlighted that the Australian batters batted in overcast conditions under the lights.

Earlier, Michael Vaughan stated that he had never seen Australia play with so much fear. His comments came after Marnus Labuschagne scored just nine runs in Australia’s first innings at the Oval in London. Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja played with a defensive approach.

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He’s Entitled To His Opinion – Tim Paine

Tim Paine expressed frustration at Michael Vaughan’s comments and said that Australia’s batters played with a slow approach due to the challenging conditions and England’s impressive bowling.

“It’s frustrating when you hear things like that,” he said on SEN Tassie Breakfast.

“He’s entitled to his opinion and maybe it was the worst he’s ever seen them bat, although I think that’s a fair stretch over his whole career. Given how dark it was, the lights were on, how well England were bowling,” he added.

Usman Khawaja scored 47 runs off 157 balls before being dismissed by Stuart Broad. The left-handed batter had a strike rate of just 29.94 in Australia’s first innings.

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Marnus Is Not Batting Anywhere Near His Best – Tim Paine

Tim Paine admitted that Marnus Labuschagne is not batting at his best at the moment, but demonstrated his fighting spirit to survive in challenging conditions.

“There’s no doubt that Marnus is not batting anywhere near his best at the moment. However, it’s a Test match and you’re allowed to fight, you’re allowed to dig in.

If it gets hard in a Test match, you don’t have to slog, you don’t have to try and belt the ball everywhere. You can actually put a price on your wicket to try and dig deep for your team.

That’s what I thought Marnus and Usman were both doing. To say that they’re negative or they’re scared to get out… You’re talking about a bloke who averages 54 in Test cricket and another who averages nearly 50.”

Labuschagne has struggled in the ongoing series, scoring 315 runs in nine innings with an average of 35 and a strike rate of 47.37. However, the right-handed batter had an impressive Test average of 53.94 and a strike rate of 53.08 in 43 games in his red-ball career.

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