Australia skipper Tim Paine has revealed that he and Peter Siddle played through the fifth and final Ashes Test against England despite carrying injuries.
Paine’s bid to become the first Australia captain since 2001 to win an Ashes series on English soil was thwarted by the hosts who reigned supreme in the final Test at the Oval to level the series at 2-2.
Writing in his column for The Australian, Paine revealed the extent of his and Siddle’s injuries while praising the latter for his commitment to still playing through the pain.
“My thumb was broken towards the end of that Test but it is not displaced, so I should be right to get back into training early,” Paine wrote.
Peter Siddle and Tim Paine.
“Peter Siddle tore a hip flexor bowling on the first morning. He has copped a bit of criticism for not bowling as well as he we know he can, but the team knows just how heroic he was.
“A lot of other people wouldn’t have bowled again in the match, but he pushed on because he didn’t want to leave Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to do extra work. He’s a warrior, Sidds, and we love him deeply for that.”
Siddle had come in for criticism for his first innings display at the Oval with the seamer going wicket-less in his 17 overs. The Australian bowler did pick up two wickets in the second innings but that wasn’t enough to prevent a 135-run defeat for the visitors.
While Paine and Australia missed out on a chance to write themselves into the record books, they did manage to retain the historic urn courtesy of their 4-1 triumph Down Under in the 2017 Ashes series.
