"Unless he’s got some sort of inside mail from Pat himself"- Tim Paine rubbishes claims of Pat Cummins stepping down as captain

Former Australia captain Tim Paine doesn't feel Pat Cummins will step down from the Australian captaincy despite the poor showing in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford Manchester.

There has been a lot of talk about how exhausted Cummins seemed during the fourth Test, with former Victorian cricketer Darren Berry claiming that the speedster would step down from captaincy after the Ashes. He tweeted:

“Here is my take Pat Cummins is a magnificent cricketer no doubt but remember this msg. He will resign from the captaincy after the Ashes series. The Q is do they go back to Smudge or move forward to Head or Marsh? Ashton Turner T20.”

However, speaking on SEN Tassie Breakfast, Tim Paine explained why he would be baffled if Pat Cummins does step down from the role. He said:

"He (Berry) doesn’t shy away from making big statements, ‘Chuck’. Unless he’s got some sort of inside mail from Pat himself, or people very close to him, it is a strange comment. Maybe he’s looking at Pat thinking he’s tired, maybe his read on it is he (Cummins) doesn’t want to do it. I don’t think that’s correct, I know it’s not correct. I’d be staggered if he steps down."

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Tim Paine on injury scares for Australia ahead of fifth Test

Tim Paine also spoke about the shoulder injury that speedster Mitchell Starc suffered during the fourth Ashes Test. He feels that the likes of Starc and Cummins bowling with lesser pace are signs of them being running out of steam.

On this, he stated:

“What worries me, not just about Pat but also with ‘Starcy’ going into the fifth Test, is they both look really tired. Not just looking at them with their body language, I thought the speeds of their bowling (were an issue). When Patty is bowling low 130s (km/h), I think that’s a concern. Starcy had something wrong with his shoulder from diving, there was talk he might have had a sore hamstring."

It will be interesting to see what changes Australia make for the fifth Test. There were quite a few from the current side who missed out on winning the series four years ago in England when Tim Paine was the captain.