Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
 

It's time for change - Stand-in skipper Paine calls for greater Australia respect

A change of approach could benefit Australia as they seek to find the silver lining in the ball-tampering fiasco, Tim Paine has said.

By Nicholas Mcgee
Tim Paine

Johannesburg, March 31: Tim Paine has called on Australia to be more respectful to the game of cricket as they start the road to rebuilding their reputation following the ball-tampering scandal.

Paine led Australia on the first day of the fourth and final Test with South Africa as Australia bid to save the series following a week that has rocked the cricket world.

The revelations surrounding a plan instigated by vice-captain David Warner, with the knowledge of captain Steve Smith, and carried out by Cameron Bancroft to illegally manipulate the ball on day three of the third Test saw all three sent home.

Cricket Australia subsequently banned Smith and Warner from international and Australian domestic cricket for 12 months, while Bancroft was handed a nine-month sanction – decisions all three retain the right to appeal against.

Darren Lehmann – who was cleared on any involvement in the plan – then announced on Thursday that the decisive Test in Johannesburg will be his last as coach.

And, though he was reluctant to speak about being long-term captain, Paine set his stall out for Australia's future by having them shake hands with South Africa before the match, the first day of which ended with South Africa 313-6, before speaking of a vision for a brand of cricket that will see them abandon the aggression that has resulted in an ill-tempered series.

Speaking in a media conference, Paine said of the handshakes: "There's been a lot of soccer on [tv], I noticed they do that every game, cricket's the gentleman's game and it's something I spoke to our players about bringing in.

"It's not something we're going to do every Test match but it's not a bad way to start a Test series. It's something we'll probably look to use going forward, it's a good show of sportsmanship and respect.

"There's been a bit of tension between the two sides, we want to be super competitive but we also want to be respectful of our opposition, it was important we showed that. If other sides want to, that's how we'll start a Test series.

"We still want to keep a really competitive brand of cricket, there's times we've got to be more respectful of our opposition, we've got to be more respectful of the game of cricket.

"At times we've tended to push the boundaries as far as we possibly could and I think we've seen that people probably don't like that."

Paine added that he believes a change in approach will benefit this Australia side.

He explained: "It's time for us to change, we're happy to do that and I think it actually suits this group of players. We're a different group of players than Australia have had for a long time, we haven't got a lot of players that like to verbalise and have that really hard-nosed Australian approach.

"We're about creating an environment where guys can come in and play cricket and just be themselves. If we can achieve that then we can have guys having better results as well.

"From this dark cloud at some stage there's going to be a silver lining. I think all the guys are really keen to be involved in how that looks.

"We've got a fair bit of time before our next Test, I'm going to be really involving of our whole staff and playing group, we'll sit down and map out how we're going to play."

Source: OPTA

Story first published: Saturday, March 31, 2018, 5:29 [IST]
Other articles published on Mar 31, 2018