Ashes history gives Paine pause

Captain Tim Paine has revealed that memories of the 2005 Ashes were behind his tempering of Australia's celebrations following the drawn first Test against Pakistan in Dubai.

After the tourists escaped with a memorable fighting draw courtesy of a record-breaking fourth-innings stonewalling led by opener Usman Khawaja, the players' viewing area was a scene of hugs, congratulations and general happiness immediately following the final ball, which had been defended by Paine.

But as he walked from the centre wicket, the skipper signalled to his squad to keep a lid on their excitement, remembering the way then England captain Michael Vaughan had read similar body language from the Australians at Old Trafford during the classic '05 Ashes.

"Just when I saw a little bit of it (the celebrations) spilling out the door, in the Forged in Fire documentary we watched last year during the Ashes and Michael Vaughan said after one of the Tests that he felt as an opposition captain that they had them when he saw them celebrating a draw," Paine recalls, referencing the drawn third Test in Manchester, where the Australians similarly batted out the final day, largely owing to an epic 156 from then captain Ricky Ponting.

"I've seen that myself before. I think we were clearly pretty excited by what we've been able to achieve because it doesn't happen too much, but you've got to keep a bit of perspective on it and realise that we had been outplayed, particularly over the first few days, and while it was great we did fight back, a draw is a draw, and we're here to win."

England of course went on to win that series 2-1 after claiming victory in the Test that followed that Old Trafford draw, and Vaughan indeed called out those Australian celebrations when revisiting that third Test for the UK's Telegraph during the 2013 Ashes.

"I remember Brett Lee and (Glenn) McGrath hugging each other in the middle as if they won the World Cup," he wrote.

"I looked behind me and saw them jumping up and down on the balcony.

"I told the lads to look at them celebrating. I never thought I would see an Australia team celebrate a draw.

"I said: 'If we play like this, and I know we will be better at Trent Bridge, then the Ashes will be ours, no question. We have got them mentally'."

In his recently-released autobiography, No Spin, Shane Warne also recalled the moment.

"Our dressing room was a relieved place," he wrote, "though the smiles and handshakes on the balcony prompted Vaughan to get his guys together and say, 'Look, the mighty Aussies are celebrating a draw with England. We've got them now'. Not a bad team talk that."