Imperfect Paine is still best as captain

THIRD TEST

ONE wicket has changed the narrative of the Ashes series.

Three days ago, England were red ball duffers who couldn’t go a yard and Australia were the geniuses on the verge of Ashes history.

Now the knives are out for Tim Paine, and the Australian captain is under fire over a couple of blunders made in the face of Ben Stokes’s brilliance.

Sure, it wasn’t Paine’s finest day in the job, but to question his credentials as captain over a botched review and the setting of some contentious fields on a day of almost unprecedented pressure is bordering on ridiculous.

The time will come for postmortems after this now epic series is done and dusted, but right now the outrage is too much: The Ashes is locked 1-1 and Australia still have an excellent chance of taking home the urn.

Those going after Paine clearly have short memories.

After the turmoil of the past 12 months, the very fact Australia were in a position to claim the Ashes in England for the first time since 2001 after only three Tests, is in no small part due to Paine’s leadership.

Does his role as Australian cricket’s statesman during its darkest days suddenly count for nothing? Have we suddenly forgotten the completely broken dressing room he has helped reunite?

Access to Michael Clarke or Ian Chappell’s brain might have helped on the final day in Headingley, but Chappell said himself that no Australian captain in history would have handled himself as admirably as Paine did in the wake of such a crushing defeat.

Paine refused to dump on the umpire when others would not have been able to resist following the horrific lbw howler in the penultimate over.

If we’ve learnt anything from the ball-tampering culture crisis, surely this is something to savour, even if it doesn’t ease the pain.

Calls for Steve Smith to immediately replace Paine as captain have predictably started. Not only is Smith ineligible until next year but, for all his greatness, he was never known for his tactical nous.

Against Pakistan at the Gabba in December 2016 with Smith at the helm, the visitors amassed an extraordinary 450 runs in the final innings and only fell short of a monumental world record by 39 runs. Smith was as helpless on that nearly-embarrassing day as Paine was against Stokes.

Some have called for Travis Head as Australian skipper. He could realistically be dropped before the series is out.

At some point, Paine’s lack of runs might become relevant and who knows how the dust will settle.

But right now, he still remains, as he did three days ago, on the verge of one of the greatest performances by an Australian captain.