Crash Craddock: Why Aussies must stick with Tim Paine as skipper

Tim Paine knows there is a thin line between subdued and submissive. He also knows how to throw some chilli paste around to fire his team up.

Tim Paine was made Test captain to stop Australia becoming too nasty only having to guard against them becoming too nice.

Paine noted the day before the SCG Test how “unusually tame’’ the on field vibe had been between Australia and India – but there was no suggestion he was doing cartwheels about it.

It was if he sensed there was a thin line between being subdued and submissive, which the team was in Melbourne.

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When he senses Australia is getting too soft, Tim Paine knows how to fire them up.

Australian players this week ran a mile from engaging in talk about India refusing to play in Brisbane.

That was until Paine deliberately went the other way and introduced the narrative at his pre-Sydney press conference by claiming “I think this Test is going to be fascinating … there’s a bit of tension starting to boil under the surface.’’

He sounded much like a boxer trying to fire himself and his team up for their next bout by throwing some chilli paste in a reasonably benign main course.

Paine did a similar thing in Perth two years ago when, fearing Australia were becoming too reverential for their own good in the aftermath of sandpapergate, squared up to and stirred up Virat Kohli.

Then there was his press conference before the first Test against England last year when he stunned the locals by saying he could name 15 grounds more intimidating than England’s treasured “Fortress Edgbaston’’.

This Australian team has its soft spots but Paine does well to add the right subtle sauce at the right time in a half-playful sort of way.

Whether it was the captain’s word or not, Australia has heeded the “liven up’’ message in Sydney with everything from Steve Smith’s bat-thumping at the crease to general footwork to the spinners to calling for runs being more aggressive than it has been.

Tim Paine says tensions between Australia and India are rising over the Brisbane Test.

Australia’s batsmen are far from flawless and you often sense the odd stumble is never far away. But at least in this Test they looked more Australian.

Sometimes captains need to feel a bit of heat even if it’s self-generated.

England’s Michael Atherton tells the story of the day he went out to open the innings against Pakistan and was alarmed how flat and lifeless he felt.

In a desperate attempt to fire himself up, he picked a fight with feisty keeper Moin Khan by saying “I don’t want to hear one word from you today Moin – you get that?’’

Moin swallowed the hook and came back hard and a relieved Atherton felt his juices flow.

The current test side isn’t perfect, but it finally feels Australian again. Picture: Getty Images.

DEANO’S PROPHECY

The late great Dean Jones was full of interesting theories and the last one he told me two months before his death concerned Travis Head whose career is in limbo after being dropped from the Test team.

“He should leave his comfort zone in South Australia and go to NSW where they will eat you alive,’’ Jones said.

“It’s just a tougher environment but it would make him better. He is not improving. Sometimes players need to feel that heat.’’

The one counterpoint Jones did make was that the highly regarded South Australian coach Jason Gillespie might be a chance of Head becoming the player Australia needs him to be but as always, Deano got us thinking.

Dean Jones called on Travis Head to move to NSW to take his game to the next level. Picture: Getty Images.

SACHIN’S CALL

Indian great Sachin Tendulkar hit the sweet spot with his call to scrap Umpire’s Call from the Decision Review System.

Tennis fans used to seeing balls rules in or out by a millimetre or two by the game’s electronic eye must shake their heads at the sight of an lbw shout being rejected even though just less than half the ball was hitting the stumps.

Yes we know in tennis it’s a better reading because you are dealing with where a ball has hit rather than a prediction of where it might hit.

But, as Sachin suggests, if you are going to trust technology, trust it all the way. Is it perfect? No? Is it better than the human eye? Yes.

Australia's Will Pucovski has proved he is made for Test cricket. Picture: AFP.

STRENGTH OF WILL

The good players know they are good. Will Pucovski’s debut half-century radiated the nerveless demeanour of a player born for the big occasion.

It was as much the little moments as the big shots. Sharing a smile with his batting partner. Having a laugh with Paine at tea. Sometimes hooking. Sometimes not.

The quirky thing about Will Pucovski’s batting is that it has no quirks.

No zany movements. Just as old fashioned framework which looks ready made for Tests.