Australia vow to play ‘hard but fair’

sydney — Skipper Tim Paine vowed Australia will play “hard but fair” against Pakistan as they embark on their first Test tour since a ball-tampering scandal and with fresh controversy raging following allegations by England’s Moeen Ali.

The squad jetted out late on Wednesday for their first Test series since the ill-fated tour of South Africa early this year, which led to 12-month suspensions for Steve Smith and David Warner and an outpouring of public anger.

Australia have five uncapped players in their squad for a tour in which they plan to adopt a more respectful culture and move away from the win-at-all-costs mentality blamed for the explosive balltampering row.

“The Australian way has always been to play hard and fair and that’ll be no different this series,” Paine told reporters before departing for the UAE.

“There’s always a lot of eyes on the Australian cricket team wherever we play, so that will be no different, and this team is really clear on what’s expected of our standards, and we’ll uphold them.”

With Smith, Warner and fellow ball-tamperer Cameron Bancroft missing, along with injured fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, it could be a tough tour for Australia, who have one of their weakest squads in years.

There are five debutants — Queensland trio Michael Neser, Brendan Doggett and Marnus Labuschagne, South Australia’s Travis Head and Victoria’s Aaron Finch. —