Tim Paine, Steve Smith overcome by raw emotion as final wicket falls

Tim Paine’s men succeed where sides captained by Ponting, Clarke could not.

Australian captain Tim Paine (left) and his predecessor, Steve Smith, celebrate their Fourth Test victory at Old Trafford. Picture: AFP

Tim Paine was overcome by emotion when the final wicket fell.

Steve Smith was so agitated while they waited for the DRS review he bounced like a jack in a box.

When the three red lights went up, the XI exploded with emotion and the rest of the squad ran from the dressing room to embrace them.

The captain leapt like a salmon over the top of the huddle.

They have been through a lot, this group. The events of South Africa shook them like few sides have ever been shaken. Paine took over from Smith while the batsman, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, were sent into exile.

Paine led them to the humiliating 5-0 ODI loss in England when Justin Langer took over from Darren Lehmann. They lost a series to Pakistan and then to India at home. They tried to paper over the gaps, they attempted to find a new way to play while the world watched with arms folded.

That winning feeling for the Aussies!

WATCH: @9Gem
STREAM: https://t.co/ARaHMPPTti #9WWOS #Ashes pic.twitter.com/KdFzj7UWU2

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) September 8, 2019

And now Paine and the reassembled post-Cape Town clan have managed to do what no other has since 2001. They have not won the series yet but the Ashes have been retained and that is an achievement denied Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke’s sides. Good sides. Sides who haven’t been through what this one has.

“This has been two years in the planning so to carry it out over here under pressure and with everything we’ve had thrown at us … it’s a nice place to play cricket but it is bloody difficult in England if I am honest,” Paine said.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our group have handled everything thrown at them. At the end it was just a bit of raw emotion when you have a little bit of success particularly on the back of last week and the last 18 months. We haven’t had a lot of success and not a lot of happy times. But we are beginning to get them and that is awesome. “

■ MORE: Gideon Haigh — ‘team purified by victory’ | Live recap: How Aussies sealed victory

The accidental captain admitted he was surprised by his own reaction.

“I didn’t think it would be this emotional,” he said. “The amount of work that’s tried to go on in to retain the Ashes has been enormous and I’m really proud of this group and how we bounced back from Headingley.

“The atmosphere, I was just saying to the guys, at every ground has been unbelievable. The noise they make here and the passion they have for cricket makes this moment all the more special.

AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN! Tim Paine reflects on that winning feeling!

WATCH: @9Gem
STREAM: https://t.co/ARaHMPPTti #9WWOS #Ashes pic.twitter.com/7wMsTckvod

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) September 8, 2019

“We’re thrilled. This is what we came here to do, to take the Ashes home. We’ll have a bloody good night tonight together and celebrate but we’ll be back on deck next week. We want to win the Ashes 3-1.

“It’s exciting, you are going to see emotion when you get a bunch of people together who have a common goal and have worked so hard for it for a such a long time.”

With England’s lower order pushing the game into the last hour, Paine admitted there were some nerves. This is the side that lost a match they seemed to have won at Headingley before coming here.

“I thought we learnt from that, held our nerve and bowled really well against a team that fought really hard like we knew they would,” he said.

“That was a loss that would break a lot of teams but weren’t. I could feel it during the week. We turned up here and did our job like good sports teams do.”

WAS THERE ANY DOUBT! Smith grabs another Player of the Match award!

WATCH: @9Gem
STREAM: https://t.co/ARaHMPPTti #9WWOS #Ashes pic.twitter.com/bnmwSSE6Q7

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) September 8, 2019

Smith was awarded man of the match for his 211 in the first innings and 82 in the second. He has had an extraordinary, interrupted, return to the top level and has 671 runs from five innings.

England captain Joe Root said he was the difference between the two sides.

“He’s a world-class player. You need to take any chance you get at him early. The first Test is probably the difference between the two sides,” he said.

“They’ve bowled well. I think the way we went about our business today was impressive. The guys will take a lot from that.

“You learn a lot about your team and players in situations like this and we stood up to the challenge and fought bravely.”