Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist call out Tim Paine’s captaincy in scathing review

Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist have delivered a scathing review of the performance of three star Aussie cricketers.

Tim Paine and Mitchell Starc haven't celebrated as many wickets as they would have hoped entering the summer. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

If Australia fails to secure the Border-Gavaskar trophy on Tuesday it will point the finger at the lack of runs from its opening batsman, underwhelming series from star bowlers Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc – and Tim Paine’s failure with the gloves and as a leader.

That’s the verdict from Aussie cricket legends Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist who assessed whether each member of the Australian side had enhanced their reputation or not in the four matches against India.

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Matthew Wade and David Warner’s failure to post a half century made them easy targets, but what was most interesting was Warne and Gilchrist’s analysis of Paine’s captaincy and the performance of his left-arm opening quick and his off-spinner.

Here’s what they had to say about all three.

TIM PAINE

Warne: His captaincy, no. Keeping, no. Batting yes … You get a situation where you’ve got 130-odd overs to bowl the side out in Sydney — you’ve got to give credit to India — but I think there were times where they (Paine and the Aussies) just didn’t get it right. Even here in Brisbane in the first innings when they had an opportunity, I think they’ve had plenty of opportunities, Australia, to grab this series and win the series, but they haven’t been able to get it done.

“I think at times their tactics haven’t been good enough, and I suppose that’s got to come down to Tim Paine as captain. They were too late to go to the short ball (on Sunday) – and once they went there they looked uncomfortable, the (Indian) tail. It’s not just Tim Paine’s fault, the bowlers are allowed to say ‘Tim I want to do this’, so it’s a combination between the bowlers and the captain. But at the end of the day, you are captain, you have to take responsibility. He’ll be disappointed. He’s set himself high standards with the keeping – and I think he’s kept OK, he’s just had one bad game – but we’re trying to judge people here saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. So he’s a ‘yes’ with his batting, it’s a ‘no’ with captaincy and ‘no’ with the tactical stuff. So I’d have to say no.

All will be forgiven if Nathan Lyon and Tim Paine can deliver on day five at the Gabba. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Gilchrist: His wicketkeeping, he’ll be really disappointed with certainly the last two Test matches, there’s no doubt about that. He was going very well, up to that point (dropped catch) with the gloves. Captaincy wise, I think he’ll reflect on some of the tactics that he put in place in Sydney – and even here maybe in his first innings, trying to chase down those 10 wickets against India. Maybe it’s taken a little bit of the gloss off his captaincy and his leadership, particularly the incident in Sydney where he came out and admitted that he just got it wrong. He went below the standard that he had set himself – not others that judge him, but he asked for a standard, he set a standard and he went below that. But his batting, tick. It’s not always got be big hundreds at No. 7 that make you a really solid contributor. I think he’s averaging in the 40s for the first time for Australian wicketkeeper in seven years. So overall, flat line.

NATHAN LYON

Warne: At times he’s bowled OK, but I think if you asked Nathan Lyon and said to him ‘how do you think you’ve bowled this series’, he’d say ‘I’d be disappointed’. I don’t think he’s bowled his best. At times he’s bowled pretty well, had a few catches dropped off his bowling, but he hasn’t enhanced his reputation.

Gilchrist: I don’t think he’s enhanced it. The first innings in Sydney he definitely bowled worse and ended up with a lot of wickets. But that sustained pressure, he hasn’t been able to maintain that, averaging over 50 with the ball in the series. He’s encroaching on 400 wickets and he’s world-class, but he hasn’t proven that in this particular series to go on and dominate.

MITCHELL STARC

Warne: No for me. It’s looked like there’s been something wrong. I don’t know what it is, whether it’s his rhythm or he’s got a little niggle, but there seems to be always something wrong. He’s taking his wickets at a high average. Tim Paine hasn’t really gone to him much when they need (a wicket). It’s been Cummins, Hazelwood or Lyon – and if none of them got it, it seems to be Starc — and normally he’s pretty competent, Starc.

Gilchrist: I don’t think so. There’s just something about Mitch – and again we’re speculating – something hasn’t looked quite right. That to me has been confirmed in the fact Tim Paine has given him the new ball, but so many spells have just been really short spells, like three overs. I know that your impact bowlers are meant to come in and have a little burst, but there just doesn’t seem to have been the trust that Mitchell Starc’s going to do the job that Tim Paine’s wanted. Whether that’s an issue with Mitchell Starc or whether it’s just the uncertainty from the captain, but even this Test match – even (Monday night) in one over that he had, he was scuffing at the foot mark, he was changing his boots … He hasn’t been able to really get into that full rhythm and be so damaging that has given him his reputation leading into this series.

You can read Warne and Gilchrist’s assessment of each Aussie player at foxsports.com.au