The Australian cricket team is recovering from the latest ball-tampering saga. It eventually led to a change in the leadership group of the national team. Ever since the verdict about the three culprits; Steven Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft has come out, the Australian team now led by Tim Paine has adopted a new ‘nice-guy’ approach on the field.
The Aussies have always been known to be a destructive force on the field of cricket. They have always opted for the aggressive route.
They have hardly given the opposition an easy time on the field.
The change in the attitude of the players was on display during the fourth Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.
The new captain started a new trend of shaking hands after the national anthem, just like it’s done in football.
However, Paine now believes only small tweaks are required now to regain the trust of the public.
His statement came after Cricket Australia appointed former Test opener Rick McCosker as the head of the panel which will review the culture of the team.
Paine said, “Obviously we’ve had this incident which has brought everything to a head. But during the Ashes, there wasn’t a lot said about our culture. Looking back it’s just a few little things that we can tweak and do a little bit better as a team. If we do that I think the Australia public will jump back on board pretty quickly.”
Paine also promised a change in the extent of sledging, “In the last couple of years at times as a team we’ve probably been a touch too emotional and got carried away. There’s always a time and a place to talk to your opposition. But what’s said and how it’s said will be very different going forward.”
The wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine also added that before Smith’s ban, he had been talking about bringing some change in the playing style.
Paine said that he wants to carry that culture forward now, “We had these discussions a few months ago and Steve was keen to start playing a different style.”
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