Culture call: Test captain Tim Paine tipped to lead Australian team on one-day tour of England
TIM Paine appears to be back in pole position to captain Australia on the one-day tour of England next month, with selectors eager to guard against a leadership vacuum.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TIM Paine appears to be back in pole position to captain Australia on the one-day tour of England next month, with selectors eager to guard against a leadership vacuum.
Aaron Finch was the favourite to skipper the ODIs, and is still in contention, but it now seems new coach Justin Langer may view the series as an ideal opportunity to start building a solid cultural foundation for the future with his Test captain Paine.
It’s possible star-of-the-future wicketkeeper Alex Carey could also be included in the one-day squad alongside Paine but, if not, the South Australian would certainly take the gloves for the Twenty20 section of the tour to take place in Zimbabwe.
There was a prevailing feeling, endorsed by keeping great Adam Gichrist, that it was time to transition to Carey behind the stumps in the 50-over format, 12 months out from next year’s World Cup defence.
“I think he has to play in the 50-over format and that will allow Tim Paine to carry out (the) extra responsibility that he has in Test cricket,” said Gilchrist on Fox Sports’ Back Page Live.
But while Paine is unlikely to be locked in as ODI skipper or keeper any longer than potentially this five-match series, it’s felt the Tasmanian could play a key role in laying the first bricks for Australia in the wake of the Cape Town scandal.
Culture and leadership is Australia’s priority over winning at this unique point in time.
Although it’s not a Test tour, trips to England lend themselves to quality bonding time and Langer emphasised in his opening press conference how important he sees his relationship with Paine.
It could be a setback for Carey, but the 26-year-old has a Cricket Australia contract and is being heavily invested in for the next World Cup.
Carey has opened plenty for South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers and could even be a candidate for David Warner’s vacated opener’s spot alongside Finch.
If Australia decide to stick with their original plan and back in Carey as keeper, Finch is best placed to captain.
But although Finch has the personality and credentials to do a fine job as captain, the truth is Australia are unsure who their long-term leader in one-day cricket is.
And while that’s the case, Paine might be the strongest choice.
By the lead-up to the World Cup defence in June 2019, selectors and the board will hope other candidates announce themselves like Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head.
Carey is highly regarded as an international talent and Australia must be cautious about holding him back too long.
During the one-day series against England earlier this year, Paine — despite his outstanding limited-overs record — struggled to set the electrifying pace in the middle overs that Australia required.
Paine injured his troublesome fingers in South Africa six weeks ago but is expected to be fit.
South Africans make WTC final demand
As players weigh up whether to return to India for the delayed IPL, South African cricket bosses lost their bid to make a demand on their Test players that Cricket Australia didn’t.
Proteas fling more barbs, out to ‘topple’ Aussies
The one-off World Test Championship final between Australia and South Africa is firing up both sides, with a fast bowler’s drug ban the centre of attention.