"I contemplated going to bed because I didn't want to have to watch an English win" - Tim Paine on Australia avenging the Headingley Test loss

Tim Paine has acknowledged that he thought about going to bed when England seemed headed for a win in the closing stages of the first Ashes Test.

Australia defeated Ben Stokes and Co. by two wickets at Edgbaston in Birmingham to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The hosts seemed to hold the edge when they reduced the visitors to 227/8 in their pursuit of a 281-run fourth-innings target but failed to drive home the advantage.

During an interaction on the SEN podcast 'Whateley', Paine was asked if he felt any vengeance when Australia finally won a close one, especially since he was the captain when they lost the 2019 Headingley Test by just one wicket. He replied in the affirmative:

"I certainly did. I actually spoke to Pat Cummins on text yesterday and actually said we have got one back for us - it was nice. Sitting on my couch at 4 AM in the morning, I must admit when Alex Carey got out and Nathan Lyon strolled to the crease, I contemplated going to bed because I didn't want to have to watch an English win."

The former Australian skipper heaped praise on Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon for taking their team across the line:

"What a partnership it was, two experienced hardened cricketers, two absolute winners. It was an amazing partnership and a great Test match to watch, made even better by the fact that we were on the right side of it for once."

Lyon joined Cummins in the middle at the fall of Alex Carey's wicket, with Australia needing 54 runs with just two wickets in hand. The duo strung together an unbroken 55-run partnership to take their team to a memorable win.

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"Ben Stokes sort of nailed it in his press conference" - Tim Paine on the fine margins in the 1st Ashes Test

Ben Stokes dropped a tough offering from Nathan Lyon.

Tim Paine was further asked about the fine margins in the game, with Ben Stokes' dropped catch, the ball just evading Ollie Pope, and Cummins' two sixes off Joe Root changing the momentum of the game. He responded:

"I think Ben Stokes sort of nailed it in his press conference. It's like these small margins but a game that goes for five days, it's often looked at in just that last hour from people outside and the media."

Paine concluded by pointing out that events throughout the game impacted the result of the expectedly close encounter:

"As he touched on, there were moments on the first morning that could have affected the outcome of this match and that's why Test matches are so hard to win, particularly when you have two teams that are pretty evenly matched like these ones I think are, although I think Australia, as the series goes on, will get better and better."

Cricket experts have highlighted Stokes' bold first-innings declaration and the England batters' inability to convert their second-innings starts into more substantial efforts as the primary reasons for their loss.