Even though Australia have retained the Ashes, captain Tim Paine is far from satisfied as they now want to win the series.
Australia trounced England by 185 runs in the 4th Test at Old Trafford. The victory gave the tourists an insurmountable 2-1 lead.
“We came here to win the Ashes. We didn’t come here to retain them,” said the Aussie skipper.
“It’s nice that we have retained them already going into this Test match but one of the reasons we’re waiting on making a call on our team and the best makeup of it and what’s right for the players is because we see this as one of the biggest Test matches we’re going to play,” he added.
“We want to be here at the end of this Test as a winning team that’s won the Test match, won the series and hold that urn up rather than let it peter out to a draw or a loss.”
“It won’t be the same for us. This Test match is huge. There’s also the Test Championship now which is really important.”
“There’s no such thing as dead rubbers and certainly against England there’s never a dead rubber.”
“We’re up for it. We’re ready to go.”
Justin Langer was happy to second Paine’s thoughts. He felt that the Australian team’s job was not over yet.
“When you have a good day, you have to celebrate it as long as you move on and get ready for the next one,” said the Australian coach.
“We’ve said the whole time, I’ve said it since day one, we’re here to win the Ashes.”
“So whilst the other day was a great experience, we have still got some business to do,” the 48-year-old signed off.
