SYDNEY, April 19, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Australia Test captain Tim Paine pledged
Thursday to embark on a new era of “respectful” cricket and rebuild public
trust after the ball-tampering scandal that rocked the sport.
The newly appointed leader said the fallout from the tampering episode was
greater than players had anticipated and promised a different style of
cricket in the future.
“Going forward we have a clean slate. We can rewrite the way we play a
little bit,” the 33-year-old told reporters in Tasmania’s capital Hobart.
“The main thing for us is to bring the fans back to Australian cricket and
make sure they like the way we are going about it, they want to come and
watch and be proud of the Australian cricket team,” he added.
The ball-tampering scandal during the third Test in South Africa last
month stunned the sport and sparked reviews into the culture within
Australian cricket.
Then captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner have been banned from
international and domestic cricket for a year, while Cameron Bancroft was
exiled for nine months, leaving the squad badly weakened.
They have all apologised and accepted the sanctions.
Paine said all three would be welcomed back to the national side but in a
new environment that met public expectations.
“Certainly playing international cricket you have to be as competitive as
you possibly can be, but we just have to look at different ways of doing
that,” said, “more respectful ways of putting opposition teams under the
pump.”
Australia has been under heavy scrutiny for sledging and Paine said on-
field talk with the opposition “will be very different going forward”.
Cricket Australia (CA) announced a meeting Friday to discuss who will
replace head coach Darren Lehmann, who despite being cleared of any
wrongdoing resigned amid the scandal fallout.
But it denied media reports that former Aussie opener Justin Langer had
already been selected for the job.
“The process to be undertaken for the appointment of a new Australian
men’s head coach will be discussed and agreed at the CA board meeting this
Friday,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“No appointment has been made, and nor will any candidate be put to the
board for ratification on Friday.”
Paine on Thursday endorsed Langer but added there were many highly-
regarded candidates world wide.
Langer remains favourite to take the top job but has indicated he wants to
maintain his coaching and family commitments in his home state of Western
Australia.
Former Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting, along with former pacemen
Jason Gillespie, have also been touted as potential replacements for Lehmann.
Some commentators have suggested the coaching appointments be split across
the three forms of the game — Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20s.