Barmy Army Doesn't Understand The Game, I Have 1,534 Runs More Than Them: Tim Paine

Australia Test skipper Tim Paine said that he has got 1,534 more runs than the Barmy Army, the supporters of the England team. He added that with the Barmy Army watching a lot of cricket, they would understand the game better.

On Wednesday, Barmy Army tweeted, "If Joe Root scores 80 more runs than Tim Paine in the first 2 Ashes Tests, his 2021 Test runs will be higher than Paine's career Test runs (eyes emoji)." It also posted a picture of the same, showing Root scoring 1,455 runs in Test cricket this year. Below it was a stat of Paine's overall runs in Test cricket, at 1,534.

"I'd like to say 'apples and oranges' but it's not even that. The Barmy Army watch a lot of cricket, you would think they would understand the game a little bit better than that. I've got 1,534 more runs than the Barmy Army," said Paine on his breakfast show Jack and Painey at SEN Hobart on Friday.

Paine laughed off the comparison between him and England captain Joe Root. While Root bats at four for England, Paine usually bats at either six or seven for Australia. "Joe Root - if he wasn't scoring more runs than me, they'd have a serious issue, wouldn't they? They rely on him to win games of cricket with the bat, I'm a small piece in our jigsaw. The Barmy Army enjoy poking fun at me, but that's fine."

The 36-year-old mentioned that it was sad the Barmy Army couldn't tour Australia this year, which has been the case when England went for the Ashes in Australia.

"It's actually a bit sad to be honest, because it does really add to the atmosphere, and they are excellent at what they do. Granted, they do re-use a lot of chants from the English Premier League, I don't think they've come up with too much original in the last 20 years. But they're excellent, brilliant to have at a cricket ground."

Paine concluded by replying back to former England batsman Rob Key, who called him 'irrelevant' on Tuesday. "Who was that? That was Rob Key. Speaking of irrelevant. You know it's busy when you constantly refresh how many times you've been mentioned (on social media). You can't just flick through. I have been belted, every day, 24 hours a day, and I have absolutely loved it."