Tasmanian Tim Paine was blindsided when told he would captain his country for the first time just hours before taking to the field on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Paine unofficially became Australia’s 46th man to skipper the Australian Test side and just the second Tasmanian behind Launceston’s favourite son, Ricky Ponting.
But the stand-in captain is unsure whether he will remain in the position, adding he had “no idea” past the Cape Town debacle against South Africa.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen – I don’t think anyone is – so it’s an impossible thing to answer,” Paine said.
Head of Cricket Australia’s integrity unit Iain Roy will arrive in Johannesburg prior to the final Test to question the players including Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the three men at the centre of the ball tampering controversy.
Paine was still bewildered about taking over the captaincy role from Smith when he fronted the media immediately after play on the fourth day.
“Not the circumstances that anybody would like to be sitting here, that’s for sure,” Paine said.
“It’s really a bizarre, strange, horrible 24 hours.”
South Africa took a decisive 2-1 series lead at Newlands with a crushing 322-run victory.
The 33-year-old also explained the circumstances of what transpired and that he wasn’t asked would he feel comfortable in taking over.
“We just had a quick chat like we do as a team every morning,” Paine said.
“Steve [Smith] and Dave [Warner] then were announcing they were stepping down.
“Then I was told by the chairman of selectors [Trevor Hohns] I’d be captain for the day.”
But Paine declined to answer whether he would be prepared to take on the position on a regular basis.
Amid the honour of the role, it came on the day that saw Australia bowled out for 107. That included losing all 10 wickets inside 20 overs after the tourists had reached 0-57 chasing an improbable 430 runs to win.
But Paine said Sunday was not the worst day he had in Test cricket amid watching wickets falling around him in the late-afternoon collapse.
That preceded the day before when Bancroft admitted to tampering with the ball using a small strip of yellow tape under the orders of captain Steve Smith.
“Probably last night [on Saturday] walking off was the lowest to be honest,” Paine said.
“No one likes losing and no one certainly likes losing in the circumstances like that.”
He said Test newcomer Bancroft was still “struggling” over the circumstances that will see the West Australian escape a ban for the fourth Test.
But Smith wasn’t so lucky, set to miss the Wanderers clash.
Paine believed that mood probably affected the team’s performance.
“That’s certainly no excuse for what’s happened in the last 45 minutes [of play],” Paine said.
“We’re still the Australian cricket team and we expect to put up a bit better effort than what we did today.
“It was certainly under trying circumstances and obviously circumstances that we brought upon ourselves.”
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
