PACT WITH CHANGES
Skipper Tim Paine reveals way forward for cricketers
CRICKET: Tim Paine admits Australian cricketers were guilty of getting “wrapped up in our self-importance”, 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 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 player-led 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 who 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 yesterday. “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. Getting outside our bubble and trying to grow the game a little bit more, think more of others.”
Asked about sledging, a topic covered in depth by the scathing 145-page report, Paine insisted his team was now on the right track and didn’t need to change much.
“It just comes down to knowing what is right and what’s wrong,” he said.
“You’re never going to have a game of cricket played where opposition players don’t speak to each other. We’re going to hold ourselves accountable.”