Paine unveils review’s Australian players’ pact
PLAY AUSTRALIA’S NO.1 CRICKET FANTASY GAME TIM Paine admits Australian cricketers were guilty of getting “wrapped up in our selfimportance”, having unveiled the simple words that will guide his side’s approach this summer as they attempt to win back fans.
Paine and Cricket Australia (CA) have released the players’ pact, a document that was created as a product of the review chaired by former Test opener Rick McCosker.
“We recognise how lucky we are to play this great game. We respect the game and its traditions. We want to make all Australians proud,” the pact declares.
“Compete with us. Smile with us. Fight on with us. Dream with us.”
Paine, Rachael Haynes, Pat Cummins, Shane Watson, George Bailey and Justin Langer were on the panel that helped McCosker conduct a playerled review.
The separate cultural review highlighted CA’s cultural failings but also bemoaned the “gilded bubble” that many “idolised” elite male players operated within.
“Players lack what might be called a ‘worldly perspective’ – and are perceived to be arrogant, entitled and self-centred,” the report notes. “(They are) disconnected, for much of each year, from families, friends and the grounding influence of community.”
Paine, among the 29 per cent of players that bothered to respond to The Ethics Centre, insisted teammates talked about pricking that bubble long before the Cape Town cheating scandal.
“I was having conversations with Steve Smith about that when I first came back into the team (in 2017),” Paine said.
“We just got a little bit wrapped up in our self-importance. It’s not our cricket team. It’s Australia’s cricket team and I think for a little while we lost that.
“It’s about giving back to our fans.”