England agree to Australian handshakes as Tim Paine seeks to repair image
Eoin Morgan, the England one-day captain, has accepted a request from his Australian counterpart, Tim Paine, for players on both sides to line up for handshakes before their much-anticipated ODI series opener at the Oval on Wednesday.
This goodwill gesture – or PR stunt, depending on one’s perspective – was first introduced by Paine in March for the fourth Test at the Wanderers in response to the ball-tampering scandal during Australia’s already fractious tour of South Africa.
Paine was a stand-in captain that day but, having since taken over the captaincy full-time following Steve Smith’s year-long suspension (to go with similarly lengthy bans for David Warner and Cameron Bancroft), the 33-year-old wicketkeeper is looking to shake hands at the start of every series he leads – provided his opposite number agrees.
Sure enough the question was asked after the two captains posed with the trophy before a five-match series in which the world’s No amp;#xa0;1 team host a touring side that have also lost the fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to injury.
“I’m absolutely happy with that. It doesn’t bother me,” Morgan said. “They are trying to turn around the image of the game in their country and we are all for that. We want cricket to be as popular as ever.” Asked if cricket really needed such a pre-game ritual or if it will just be for show, Morgan shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said.
Paine, meanwhile, fielded the latest round of questions about balltampering and the behaviour of his players with the air of a man growing slightly tired of the topic. It is clear the Australian captain is desperate to move on from events in Cape Town, where Bancroft was caught sandpapering the ball after a tutorial from Warner and with Smith’s passive consent. “We’ve spoken about this a lot but we are aware that words are just that,” said Paine. “We’ll be judged solely on our actions going forward. We’ve spoken about our values as a team and how we want to be perceived by the Australian public and the cricket public in general.”
Though Paine is lacking five firstteam players and Australia have lost 11 of their last 12 completed oneday internationals away from home, he and the new head coach, Justin Langer, are hoping the hunger of fringe players desperate to force their way into the plans for next year’s World Cup comes to the fore here.
Aaron Finch and the inventive Glenn Maxwell should provide power – provided the latter can rediscover form – and Travis Head some well-acclimatised nous after a spell with Worcestershire this summer, while the slippery Jhye Richardson and 6ft 8in Billy Stanlake are two exciting, if inexperienced, threats with the ball.
But as well as trying to mould a new-look side, Paine must also cement his own place. While arguably the best gloveman of his generation, a strike-rate of 70.52 with the bat is low by modern standards and, had Cape Town not occurred, there is every chance his return to the one-day side for the 4-1 postAshes defeat by England may have been brief, given Alex Carey, the power-hitting South Australian wicketkeeper, is pushing hard in reserve.
Asked if he felt any pressure, Paine replied: “None at all. I’m in a really good space with my cricket. I’m captaining Australia where 12 months ago I was nearly working for Kookaburra sports. Every game I play for Australia is an absolute bonus. I spoke to [Langer] this morning about trying to play every game for Australia as if it’s my last, and it’s easy for me to do that.”
Paine refused to bite when asked about England’s six-run defeat by Scotland on Sunday, when Morgan’s bowlers shipped 371 for five in their first outing since going top of the rankings. The response from the home side is expected to be minimal, with one change – the previously rested Jos Buttler coming in for Sam Billings.
With Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes both suffering soft-tissue injuries during the drawn Test series against Pakistan, Morgan’s attack is slightly weakened, though he is unconcerned by the Scotland performance – “If it had been at the Oval, yes I would be,” he said – and the call from the captain was for county bowlers, and quicks in particular, to press their claims further.