Paine has right stuff to be skipper: Richter
Former Far North coach a fan of Aussie keeper
A FORMER AFL Cairns head coach got a first-hand look at current Australian cricket captain Tim Paine and immediately liked what he saw.
Former North Cairns Tigers mentor Kane Richter took over at Tasmanian State League club North Hobart in 2016, leading the Demons onand-off the field as playercoach and general manager for two seasons.
During his stint, the former AFL Queensland coach of the year recruited Paine to help secure more sponsors.
“I’d known Tim for a little while and played footy with his brother,” Richter (above) said of the tough wicketkeeper.
“He was only there for a short time (at North Hobart) but he’s a really good bloke. He performed a business networking role for the club. In a lot of ways he was there to prepare for life after cricket. He had a lot of injuries which have been pretty well documented. But while he was with us we set up a business group for the North Hobart Football Club.
“It would have been nice to have him there for a little bit longer because what he did was fairly beneficial in the end.”
Now back in the Far North running a Cairns-based boarding house, Richter said he admired the new Aussie skipper’s resilience, having endured seven rounds of surgery on his index finger before returning to the national team in 2017.
“He obviously went through a pretty tough period,” he said. “People may say he’s fallen into the job but he’s endured the hard stuff, too.
“For a while there he was the best keeper in the country and then spent a lot of time out of the game. It goes to show that if you stick with something and believe in yourself for long enough you can come out the other side.”
The keeper, who suffered a hairline fracture in his first Test as captain this week against South Africa has already made significant changes to the way Australia plays their cricket in light of the ball-tampering scandal that saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft suspended.
“I think people have seen how he’s introduced the shaking of hands between players (from both teams) before the Test match and I think that’s a really good idea,” Richter said.
“He’ll be a really strong leader for Australian cricket and I hope he keeps the job and succeeds.”
Despite yet another hand injury, Paine said he’ll be fit for Australia’s next ODI series in England that starts in June and will play out the remainder of fourth and final Test.
“All we know at the moment is (there is) some sort of break in it. It’s all in place, which is good,” he said.