Paine justifies recall of Marsh for Ashes finale

LONDON: Australia captain Tim Paine said the recall of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in the side to face England at the Oval is a bid to look after his fast bowlers.

Paine revealed on the eve of the fifth Ashes Test that Marsh will take Travis Head’s place. “They bowled a lot of overs and had a big workload on them,” Paine said on Wednesday. “We want to be able to look after our fast bowlers. Mitchell Marsh had a couple of hundreds so he can do a job with the bat as well.

“We spoke a lot about needing to pick our attacks in England. We are going to have them fresh and ready to go for the home summer. The reason Travis is not playing is because we feel we need a bit of extra bowling at the end of the series and Mitch is an all-rounder.

“Travis has had a fantastic start but we want to get the make up right to win this Test match and we have to make a tough call on someone.” Paine is “very hungry” to finish this Ashes series in England with another comprehensive victory. “We have spoken a lot about it. We came here to win the Ashes, not just to retain it,” Paine said. “Last week’s result was brilliant. We played very well. This Test is bigger than the last one. This is our grand final.”

When asked if he took pleasure from England captain Joe Root being put under pressure for his place, Paine added: “Not really, it has no effect on us. A week is a long time in cricket. Joe Root is a fantastic cricketer and I don’t get sometimes why he’s under so much scrutiny.”