• Tim Paine criticized England Test team.
• He labeled as “below-average side.”
• England are ranked last in the WTC.

In a recent documentary, Tim Paine, the ex-captain of Australia, criticized England’s Test team, labeling them as a “below-average side,” following the disclosure of Ben Stokes’ motivational talk during the 2023 Ashes.

The Ashes series of 2023 began with Australia securing victories in the first two games, but England, led by Stokes, bounced back with a win in the third. The English team was in a commanding position in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, but the match ended without a result due to rain.

The series concluded with England triumphing in the final Test at the Oval, bringing the series to a 2-2 draw. During the fourth Test, Stokes gave an impassioned speech in the dressing room, asserting that England’s style of playing Test cricket will “live forever in the memory of people who were lucky enough to witness” their performance.

Paine, however, expressed skepticism about the impact of Stokes’ words, suggesting that they were misinterpreted and that England is deluded in thinking they are revolutionizing Test cricket.

Speaking on SEN Tassie Breakfast, Paine remarked, “I think it was taken slightly out of context because he was talking in a changing room and it was a bigger speech, so I will say that.”

He continued, “However, it’s just this continued belief that they’re completely changing the game and they’re doing this amazing stuff and everyone’s going to remember it … they’re not.”

Paine also pointed out England’s position at the bottom of the rankings in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle, where they stand ninth.

Paine bluntly assessed England’s performance, stating, “You’re coming dead last in the World Test Championship. You’re not going to be a team that everyone remembers watching and you’re not doing anything outrageously good that we haven’t seen before.”

He concluded by saying, “You’re an average cricket team. You are, at the moment, a below-average cricket team and I think they need to get their head around that a little bit.”

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