Paine's pleasure in Ashes treasure

Tim Paine's selection for the Magellan Ashes might have come out of the blue but it's proven to be as good as gold.

Paine was once again flawless with the gloves and sturdy with the bat in Perth where Australia wrapped up the Ashes with a commanding innings-and-41-run win on Monday.

The 32-year-old now has 16 dismissals for the series (15 caught, one stumped) to complement 130 runs at 43.

His selection was one of the biggest Ashes bombshells in recent history, given he was the No.2 wicketkeeper in Tasmania behind incumbent Matthew Wade and had not played a Test match in seven years.

So after play at the WACA Ground, Australia captain Steve Smith praised not only his gloveman but the selection panel for making the tough calls.

"Painey has been mentioned as probably the best keeper in the country for a long period of time, and the way he's kept has been exceptional," Smith said.

"And the way he's batted has been exceptional as well, we've had some very valuable runs from him at number seven."

He added: "The selectors get criticised quite a lot but I think they've done a terrific job with the squad they picked at the start and everyone who has come in has done an exceptional job."

Now that Australia have an unassailable three-nil series lead, Paine can look to target a wicketkeeping record that's stood for 35 years.

Former Australia keeper Rod Marsh owns the record for the most dismissals in a series in Australia with 28 way back in the 1982-83 Ashes.

And if Marsh's record is not enough, Paine could go after the all-time record of 29 held by Australia's current assistant coach Brad Haddin, who achieved the feat in the 2013 Ashes in England.

Having worked closely with Paine this summer, Haddin says the Tasmanian has made an impact both on and off the field.

"I think he's made a real big difference," Haddin told Optus Sports' Stumps program after day one where the gloveman was at his acrobatic best keeping to Australia's tearaway pace trio on a fast and bouncy WACA Ground wicket.

"I think his glovework's been first-class. He's tidied a lot of stuff up and as we know with keepers, if they go unnoticed they're doing their job.

"What he did today with that one-handed catch is just reward for what he's done throughout this series.

"He's keeping well but the character he's brought to our change rooms – he can shut those fast bowlers up pretty quickly when they get annoying! He's been a really good asset to the team."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21