Dukes won't decide Ashes berths: Paine

Australia Test captain Tim Paine says that while the back half of the JLT Sheffield Shield competition will provide an indication of who is best-credentialled to deal with the Dukes ball, it should not be seen as a definitive form guide to Ashes selection.

Paine admits he continues to devote "probably too much" of his time thinking about the upcoming Ashes Series in the UK, the first Test of which remains more than five months away.

But with the current rounds of the Shield competition being played with the Dukes ball, which has been designed to replicate the behaviour of balls used in England's home Tests, he is also maintaining a close eye on those most adept with it, or against it.

Paine had earlier indicated he holds a fairly clear picture of what the nucleus of his Ashes squad will look like, with only a handful of names to be inked in depending on Shield form, fitness and suitability for England's likely conditions and opposition.

And even though the Australian-made version of the UK's Dukes ball was introduced into the Shield competition three seasons ago with a view to better preparing players for the 2019 Ashes campaign, Paine doesn't see it as a principal selection criterion.

"There's a lot of talk about the Dukes ball, but I think the Dukes ball we use in Australia is completely different to the one that we use in England from what I'm told," Paine said after Tasmania's six-wicket Shield win over South Australia in Adelaide.

"I think Dukes have made a ball to suit Australian conditions.

"There's no doubt it's good to see the ball swinging around, and seeing guys playing against and bowl with it, so there's certainly some positives from it.

"But it's not the be-all and end-all."

The first round of Shield matches played with the Dukes ball provided some useful insights for Paine, as well as the national selection panel (of which he is not a member).

Test incumbents Marcus Harris, Joe Burns, Travis Head, Kurtis Patterson and Marnus Labuschagne all posted half-centuries or better, while former Test opener Cameron Bancroft strengthened his case for a recall.

Seamers Chris Tremain and Jackson Bird also reaffirmed their potency with the Dukes ball, and left-arm spinners Jon Holland and Steve O'Keefe paraded their credentials as potential back-up to Nathan Lyon, as did leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson.

But current Ashes form guides are complicated by the national men's team's exclusive focus on limited-overs cricket ahead of the ICC World Cup that begins in the UK in late May.

As a consequence, red-ball preparation for players such as Paine who are not part of Australia's ODI planning will be restricted to the final rounds of the Shield season, and then an Australia A tour to the UK in the weeks prior to the Ashes campaign beginning.

Paine is eyeing that Australia A tour as a chance to fine-tune his game, while also acknowledging that – at age 34 – the break that looms for him at the close of the Australia summer will be equally important to his Ashes build-up.

"I'm looking at a few things as to how I might go about it because I'm certainly not getting any younger," Paine said.

"It (an Ashes tour) is such a massive moment for anyone in Australian cricket, and for me it will definitely be the one and only chance I get to go and play in an Ashes series in England.

"You can't help but be excited by the prospect of it, but I've got to concentrate on the here and now a bit more first.

"So it's a fine balance for me to stay fresh, but to also be really well prepared as well, because it is a one-off chance for me to go over and do it.

"I want to make sure I'm absolutely cherry ripe by the time that Ashes comes around, but I want to be feeling really good and really confident about my skills as well.

"I'll be looking to play plenty of cricket if I can, and hopefully do a little bit of that on the A-trip."

Following England's unimpressive Test series against the West Indies in the Caribbean, and Sri Lanka's stunning upset of the Proteas on their home soil, Paine's Test team has moved marginally ahead of their Ashes rivals to fourth on the global Test rankings.

But the Australia Test skipper points out those respective mid-table ratings will count for nothing when the first Ashes Test begins at Edgbaston on August 1.

"I don’t think it matters when it comes to Ashes, it's one and two – it's England and Australia," Paine said.

"Whoever wins that, you feel like you're the best team in the world for that period of time.

"I think for both sets of players, the world ranking is one thing and then holding the Ashes is another that's right up there alongside it.

"So whether we're the 10th and 11th teams, it wouldn't matter.

"The Ashes rivalry is enormous, and one that everyone looks forward to."

However, Paine takes heart from England's recent Test form in the Caribbean, where they were defeated 2-1 by the eighth-ranked West Indies.

While acknowledging that Joe Root's team will be an entirely different proposition in their home conditions, where Australia have not won a Test series since 2001, he claimed the Qantas Ashes tour now looms as a more closely fought affair than it appeared six months ago.

"We know England, when they're playing well, are an excellent team but they've got some holes in their armour at the moment, like everyone does," Paine said

"It would be silly to go over there thinking that we're not good enough to beat them - I think we are, but certainly we understand that we're going to have to play extremely well.

"There's been some of Australia's best-ever teams that have gone over to England and found the conditions challenging.

"So we've got to walk the fine line between respecting the fact that it is a little bit different and a little bit harder to play over (there), but still going over there and playing to our strengths and taking them on."