With two consecutive Test series losses at home against India, the pressure has been mounting on Tim Paine. The Test captain had to endure a frustrating four-Test series against India this time as they failed to close out two games – in Sydney and in Brisbane – on the final day.
After their come-from-behind win in Adelaide, Australia were outplayed in Melbourne and then couldn’t break through the resistance of the injury-hit Indian side. Post the 1-2 series loss, Paine was asked if he’s still enjoying the leadership role. While he did say that he expects plenty of scrutiny to come his way, he stressed he’s “loving” the job and wants to continue in the role.
Now Paine also has the support of Trevor Hohns, the national selector, as Australia named their side for the three-match Test series in South Africa. “Tim’s leadership in our mind was never in question, we didn’t spend one minute on Tim’s leadership during our selection meeting,” Hohns said. “He’s been a terrific leader through some pretty trying circumstances.
“Some of the criticism he’s had to endure in our view has been pretty wide of the mark and in particular some of it has been in poor taste from overseas people. I think Tim has been unfairly criticised in this instance. Sure, we are all disappointed with the performance and losing to India, that’s difficult to accept sometimes, but I think the criticism of Paine has been totally unfair.”
Ben Oliver, the head of national teams, stressed the loss against India hasn’t dented Paine’s leadership credentials. “Tim has the support of the team, the coach and everyone else at Cricket Australia and the result of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series has done nothing to diminish that,” he said.
“Tim is in career-best form with the bat and, while the series against India was not his best with the gloves by his own admission, he remains in the top echelon of wicketkeepers globally.
“And as a leader, he has been brilliant. To captain a squad through the many challenges presented by the pandemic – not least the unique pressures of hub life – is no easy task and Tim did that with strength, humility and good humour. After a series that attracted so much global interest, it was inevitable there’d be scrutiny. But some of the commentary surrounding Tim and his position as Test captain has been wide of the mark.”
