Skipper Paine apologises for poor SCG behaviour
Sydney, Australia - In the moments after India secured an unlikely draw at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Australia's captain Tim Paine privately conceded to R Ashwin that he had made himself 'look the fool' by calling the touring spin bowler a 'd*******' and then following up by dropping his third catch of the day.
Fewer than 24 hours later, Paine elected to publicly apologise for poor behaviour on the field throughout the Sydney Test while also conceding that his darkening mood ultimately contributed to his team's failure to close out win as his usually supple gloves clanged vital chances offered up by Rishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari.
At the age of 36, nearly 18 months after he had originally pondered retirement at the end of the 2019 Ashes, Paine is well aware that in terms of both performance and behaviour he cannot afford anymore days like the final one of the SCG Test, and made that much patently clear after jumping into the media seat as a last-minute substitute for Nathan Lyon.
"International cricket at the moment with the hub life and in the bubble you have a fair bit of time to yourself and last night for me was one of those moments to sit back and reflect on the Test match. I think it was important to address some things from yesterday," Paine said on Tuesday. "I want to apologise for the way I went about things yesterday. I'm someone who prides themselves on the way I lead this team and yesterday was a poor reflection of that.
"My leadership wasn't good enough, I let the pressure of the
game get to me, it affected my mood and then from there affected my performance. Yesterday, when I came off the ground my reflection was purely on my wicketkeeping. Sitting back last night and reflecting on the whole game, I think I said to our players yesterday I've had a really poor game as a leader, not so much as a captain but certainly as a leader.
"I'm a captain who wants to enjoy the game. I'm a captain who wants to play the game with a smile on their face and yesterday I fell short of my expectations and our team standards.
“So I'm human, I want to apologise for the mistakes that I made yesterday. It's certainly not a reflection of the way I want to lead this team. We've set really high standards over the last 18 months and yesterday was a bit
of a blip on the radar and something that I felt I needed to come out and address."
‘Smith not trying to change guard’
Star Aussie batsman Steve Smith, who was team's captain during the sandpaper cheating scandal, also attracted negative attention when footage suggested he scuffed up batsman Rishabh Pant's guard at the crease. The stump camera showed Smith shadow batting and then apparently rubbing off the pitch marks - made by the batsmen to judge where they stand - with his boots.
Paine said it was just part of Smith's regular routine. "It's one of his mannerisms, he was marking centre, he wasn't by any stretch of the imagination trying to change guard or do anything like that," he said.