Ease up on Tim Paine: My thoughts from the first Test

Substitutes: No. if a bowler gets somehow concussed by a cricket ball then yes. Wicket Keepers: disagree. I like the banter, especially Pant and Paine. Just never liked the Wade banter. He was always too annoying. Paine: I am completely happy with how he’s going. Sure there is the odd error and the run out was almost inexcusable but it was still bloody hot out there. Hard to stay sharp all the time. I’m happy for him to remain captain and averaging what he does until it is deemed there is a better gloveman in the country. Commentary: agreed. Skull and bumble are my favourites to listen to and really like Ponting, Gilly, Warne’s insights. Wagner: What a machine. But I think with more than a week to reflect on the obvious trap fields that were set for his short ball tactic it won’t take much to devise a counter and make him leak runs until they move the fielders.

Anyone who regards an entire State of people as 'the slowest fools on the planet' is saying far more about then selves than they are about Tasmanians.

You say that as if I'm oblivious to bias in certain Aussie commentators, Peter, which is simply untrue. I don't like excessive bias in any commentator, no matter where they're from, because it impairs their ability to offer a rational analysis of what is unfolding. Bill Lawry was a prime example. He took it like a personal insult when the Aussies were being outplayed.

Paine’s keeping to Lyon was beautiful to watch. Adam Gilchrist spoke about it in his commentary at one point.

Yea i think its time we ease up on Tim.he picked up our team when it was in absolute tatters post Cape Town and from there to go ahead and achieve something which Ponting couldn't is no mean feat.not to forget his dogged batting against Pakistan where he drew the game against the odds was quite commendable.haters would go ahead and say we should've won the Ashes 3-1 but that was once in a gen innings by Stokes. If we're on commentators, i'd recommend watching the Indians play.bar Harsha Bhogle that team of broadcasters have some pretty below average comms. Holding,Lloyd,Nicholas,Harsha,Warne (to an extent) are very good in my opinion. Brayshaw & VVS Laxman are in the same category i feel.

James Bradshaw is a nice guy. But a horrible commentator. For balance he needs to be with Ponting who is the best going around by a long way. Slater is a waste of space but a NSW space filler. Paine and Wade talking demonstrate why Tasmanians are regarded as the slowest fools on the planet. Much prefer to see these guys delivering cricket than to hear them talking. They're so limited in the talking mode. But hear comes the T20 and that can be entertaining banter. But in test cricket the less our guys say, the smarter they seem.

There's middle ground though, Peter. Look at the way guys like Michael Holding and Harsha Bhogle go about it. They make Australia's worst commentators look even poorer by rising above the parochial nonsense. You don't need to be combative to be interesting. The other guys you mentioned - O'Keefe and Lloyd - aren't. Smith just gets teary any time things aren't going NZ's way.

Whilst the Aussies are going well against poor opposition, Paine will be okay with average field placings and with few runs. But when they’re having a bit more of a struggle, he might think about retiring. If he wasn’t the captain, he’d probably have been dropped already. But he’s saved because there’s no other captain option.

Only problem with Subs, especially bowling subs, is it is very difficult to produce a "like for like" replacement; and will 100% be abused. I am sure every team would love to have a spare 140k+ bowler sitting in the rooms for 3.5 days, to come out fresh as a daisy on a Day 3/4/5 Pitch because another bowler has "hamstring awareness".

Some thoughts on Tim Paine. First of all, this guy is Australia's captain, so on him falls ALL the responsibility for on field decisions. His secondary role is wicketkeeper and a distant third is his batting. Look at his last 5 Test results - a win by 185 runs, two more wins by an innings and a further win by 296 runs. Does it truly matter if this guy is NOT scoring at Gilchrist type rates, when he's got the side winning 80% of it's recent games so comfortably? People say BJ Watling is the best keeper batsman in Test cricket, but he was well and truly brought back to earth in Perth. His batting and glove work were no better than Paine's while Paine led his team really well. For mine, Paine won the "battle of the gloves" pretty handsomely.

Agree with most of that mate - except I quite like Damian Fleming. I really don't understand the angst about Paine, either. They have turned into a team i could become proud of again one day (if they could get rid of Warner)

Agree with you on Paine and Wagner but I'm struggling with your other points. Ferguson was 100% the right call. He was a bit wayward in a nervous first spell but he came back well and should have had Smith as his first test wicket. The only mistake NZ selectors made was failing to pick Ferguson in the second test vs England when there was far less pressure. Matt Henry has a bowling average of 48.5 after 11 tests; he's a handy white ball cricketer but in this format he is not the answer. I actually like the fact we don't have general injury subs in cricket. It forces teams with only four frontline bowlers to adjust their tactics. It was excellent seeing Paine throw the ball to Wade for a couple of overs, just as it was fun watching Labuschagne rip one back through Santner's gate. Besides, the other sports you listed don't actually have injury subs. If you lose a player in footy, union or league you can't replace them. You're just down a rotation on the bench, which still puts you at a disadvantage. As for commentators, I enjoy O'Keefe and Lloyd but Ian Smith is terrible. Personality is about all he has going for him. The chip on his shoulder when it comes to Australia is as wide as the Tasman Sea and his bias makes Glenn McGrath look impartial. And "most of the English commentators seem to get the balance right and appeal as being the best overall"... Really? Have you not heard Hussain, Strauss or Gower behind the microphone?!? And I say that as someone who couldn't stand most of the old Channel 9 team. Different strokes, I guess!

Tim Paine has done an absolutely outstanding job as captain of the Australian test team. I didn't even bother reading the ridiculous comments made about how he should have let Warner make 400 or 500. Why? This game is about the team winning matches not individual achievements. I don't think Warner was too fussed with the decision. He could see it was made in the interests of the team. I love Tim's upbeat chatter behind the stumps. I know from playing the game that you need to have players who are upbeat and chatty to keep the momentum going and give some positive support to the bowlers in particular. Particularly in the Perth heat in this test when bowlers could be flagging. Watling is far too quiet for mine and I'd suggest that Peter Nevill's restrained behaviour behind the stumps is one of the reasons he is not in the test team. I would love to see Tim score a few more runs but his contribution with the gloves and as captain have been excellent. And agree with the writer that perhaps George Bailey would be the only other Australian player that could have done a similar job as captain. He's even getting his DRS reviews right.

Indeed. He's prepared to praise and to criticise - and it doesn't matter who it is. And as he's able to justify the criticisms he's not just adopting a position for the sake of it. Incidentlly, as to me Jim Maxwell basically comes across as a curmudgeon who doesn't particularly like cricket, I hope you're mistaken about his personality coming through in his commentary!

With you there on Brayshaw, Peter. Couldn’t put my finger on exactly why, but a mate rang up last night and was complaining that Brayshaw carries on like a child. Hard to argue with… My Kayo is currently disconnected (house move) so I’m stuck with FTA, which in spite of Captain Ponting’s rapid-fire insights, also offers me the rare opportunity to cop Brayshaw AND Fleming together. Now I understand why it’s called TEST cricket ! One other thing : could we please arrange a moratorium between journalists of all media : tv, press and radio, to once and for all abolish that teeth-grinding term, Long Levers. We get it, it’s been flogged to death with no sign of mercy, please, please give it away.

Ponting has them all covered.

If you read my profile you may get a hint as to why I’m not answering your question.

And who is that? (HCIC?) Brayshaw?