PAINE PUTS SPICE INTO HIS TEAM

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

Paine, pictured, 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 as the team was in Melbourne.

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

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 after the ball-tampering scandal, 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 and being more aggressive than it has been.

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 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 Atherton felt his juices flow.

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 he 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.

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 slightly 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 Tendulkar 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.

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 an old-fashioned framework that looks ready made for Tests.