It has been a long dark week in Australian Cricket after the ball-tampering saga, but the future of Australian cricket is in good hands with Tasmanian Tim Paine leading the way.
Because of this to this saga, Steve Smith and David Warner have stepped down as captains and Paine was appointed Australian test captain.
Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were given suspensions from the game from Cricket Australia. Smith and Warner have been banned for 12 months and Bancroft for nine months.
Australian Cricket coach Darren Lehmann resigned as coach after he saw how much this saga had affected Smith and Bancroft as individuals. These were the catalysts to Lehmann’s resignation.
This has somewhat been a defining week for Australian cricket, as there has been a new change of guard in Australian cricket. Now players such as Chadd Sayers, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Joe Burns and Glenn Maxwell are able to get their time to shine for Australia in a new look Australian side.
It is great these young players get to live out their dream of playing for their country.
The future of Australian cricket is looking positive with Paine as captain. For example, Paine was a true gentleman when after both the Australian and South African national anthems had played at the start of the first Test, he and his players shook hands with the South African players.
Paine did not have to do this gesture but it just shows the quality of him as a person and as a leader. Paine told the Daily Telegraph the reason behind the handshakes was “I’ve been watching [sports channel] SuperSport this week and they’ve had the soccer on and I notice they do that every game and I thought cricket is the gentleman’s game.”
These handshakes will take place at the start of the Test series and Paine spoke to his players and thought it would be great to bring into the new look culture of the Australian cricket team.
DavSA
Guest
India are a very good team. Unless Australia can sort out some pretty obvious issues namely captaincy , openers and their most potent strike weapon Mitch Starc's chronic injury problems as well as pitch preparation it is also going to be a long day at the office.
Tash
Guest
Yes thank you Paul. I agree with what you have said I would rather want an Australian cricket team who are playing within the rules and spirit of the game. I for one would be happy with long term pain for some long term gain. This will allow the Australian cricket team to gain respect from other countries and from our country as they are playing fairly and competitively.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Are you even Australian?? Allan Border's team did eventually win. They just need time. When they play back home then who knows? it is against india
Paul
Roar Guru
Tash, Paine is a very good choice as Test captain, at least for the time being. His gesture of hand shaking should be seen as a positive first step in restoring Test cricket to the way we like it played in Australia; hard but fair. The harder next steps are to move the team forward in terms of it's performances. On paper, we have a developing squad (when Smith & Warner are taken out) and this should be a green light for selectors to experiment with players who might be Test quality. Handscomb, for example, is living on borrowed time and there's no reason why Maxwell and a few other guys can't be considered in his place. Paine and the new coach also needs to focus on getting player confidence back on a positive track. The whole team has taken a whack over in South Africa and the quicker they can regain their pride, spirit, etc, the better for both themselves and Australian cricket. I for one will not be phased in the slightest if we suffer some defeats over the next 12 - 18 months. Our aim should be to get our best Test squad ready to play the Ashes. I don't think we're too far away and if we use the upcoming Tests to develop a side, we should be very competitive in England.
PeterK
Roar Guru
This must be an April F@@l’s joke right? Just the editors posted it 1 day late. Sure the touchy feely people will be happy about handshakes and so on. Don’t know how happy aussie cricket followers will be when they struggle to make 250 every test and will be relieved when they draw a match. I don’t call that a bright future except for the teams playing them.
PeterK
Roar Guru