Australia Test captain Tim Paine revealed how he soiled himself during the closing moments of the fourth Ashes Test against England in Manchester last year. Australia were one wicket away from winning and levelling the series 2-2, but Paine had something else in mind.
In what could be called a race against time, he had the option of taking a break and going off for a toilet break, but between the skies turning dark grey, Paine could not afford to take it. Hence, the only option the Australia skipper was left with was “letting himself loose.”
“I was feeling a little bit ill and there were some big, dark clouds rolling in over the grandstand and we only had about seven overs left and obviously we needed that one wicket.(There were) No drinks breaks left, umpires starting to talk to each other about (bad) light,” Paine said on the Keep it Real podcast, as quoted by news.com.au.
“I just had a horrible feeling that I needed to go to the toilet … it was (a) number two and so I basically just thought, ‘Righto, can’t waste any time, I’m gonna have to (go)’. I remember saying to Davey Warner, ‘I’m actually going to have to do this’, and did. Unfortunately, it was one of those moments where the crowd went quite quiet. Because I was a bit unwell, it was a bit runny and you could actually hear it hit the ground.”
Paine’s incident was not entirely similar to the one Matthew Renshaw encountered in India but certainly on similar lines. During Day 3 of the first Test of 2016-17 Border Gavaskar Trophy in Pune, Renshaw, who was batting on 36, retired ill after seeking permission from the on-field umpire, later admitting that he rushed to the dressing room for a bathroom break.
{{/usCountry}}Paine’s incident was not entirely similar to the one Matthew Renshaw encountered in India but certainly on similar lines. During Day 3 of the first Test of 2016-17 Border Gavaskar Trophy in Pune, Renshaw, who was batting on 36, retired ill after seeking permission from the on-field umpire, later admitting that he rushed to the dressing room for a bathroom break.
{{/usCountry}}However, what Paine experienced was entirely off the charts. Luckily for him, it wasn’t long after that Josh Hazlewood picked up the last wicket, of Overton, as Australia retained the Ashes.
“A number of the boys do know about it; I think probably all. Certainly, the slips cordon were aware of it,” the skipper said.
“Normally, obviously, you’d run off but, I’m not kidding, there were rain clouds everywhere, it was six or seven overs left, we were down on overs. I just thought they’re (umpires) going to call the game off here and we’re going to get stitched-up, so I couldn’t be running off the ground. I reckon JL (Justin Langer) would have knocked me out.”