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Ashes 2021-22

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
Well the Poms are coming.

Tim Paine probably isn't.

But at least Betoota are having a field day about it.

 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
What a weird day. The Poms are embroiled in a racism scandal and our captain sent dick pics to a work colleague!

Can we please get on with some cricket? Please!
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
It seems pretty likely that Pat Cummins will be named as our next test captain. In general I agree that he is most suited to it. The issue will be the same as Paine though. When we get to the final sessions at the end of a close test match, the issue with having a key player in the fielding side as captain becomes a focus.

Look at Paine last Summer against India. The time he failed was late in the match in Sydney particularly and then Brisbane when the matches were close. His wicket keeping dropped, our fields and plans became erratic and ultimately we lost those matches in those sessions and Paine's overall play was part of the problem. At that time we needed him to be completely focused on his keeping but the distraction of captaincy meant every area fell down.

The risk won't change with Cummins. He'll be absolutely fine for the bulk of the time. The problem comes when he's fatigued on the final day and we need him to bowl a lot of overs when it really counts (probably bowling unchanged for the last hour of a test for example). We need him at his best for this and then the issue is how having to also set the field and make other bowling decisions impacts his performance doing all these things.

There's a reason bowlers generally get sent down to fine leg between overs. Even if they end up doing a bit of running around, they can generally focus a bit less on fielding compared with being in closer and can have both a physical and mental rest (and think about their next over). Does Cummins go down there if he's the captain?

I'm not arguing that Cummins shouldn't be captain because I think overall he's the best person for the job. Being captain of the Australian cricket team has a lot of responsibilities off the field as well as on it.

I'd want to have a vice captain who is very much empowered to take control of field placements, enacting plans and bowling changes (in discussion with Cummins) when matches are tight and we need Cummins to focus on his bowling and that alone.
 

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
Throw in the current trend of giving fast bowlers long periods off the field, and ... well...
 

Rob42

John Solomon (38)
Need some experience in the team to take some of that load off Cummins when the going is hard.
 

John S

Desmond Connor (43)
I think there is plenty of experience in the team to assist Cummins, even if it's still not au fait, Steve Smith is there and he can provide advice where required.
 

Froggy

John Solomon (38)
I think there is no question Cummins will be captain, the important thing is the tactical support he gets on the field. Warne was never a captain, for plenty of obvious reasons, but his tactical knowledge on the field was invaluable to any captain that played with him. Cummins will need that, and Steve Smith would be one of the first people he should be going to.
 

Froggy

John Solomon (38)
On the Paine issue, which seems to be generating plenty of heat on both sides of the argument, there seem to be conflicting reports as to whether or not it was all consensual. I raise that because, in my mind, if it was not he should definitely be stripped of the captaincy at a minimum, but if it was consensual, while all pretty tacky and very unfortunate for his family, I would have thought it a private matter and no business of CA, the media or, for that matter, us.
 

Sully

Tim Horan (67)
Staff member
CA seems to be copping flack from some for sacking Paine, but he resigned on his own. I think it should have been public when it happened and now there would be nothing to talk about.
I'd be pretty unhappy if anyone i knew sent a dick pic to anyone while their wife was pregnant
 

John S

Desmond Connor (43)
CA is rightly copping flack, not for sacking him, but not standing by Paine, and their previous decision/finding.

I agree that if it came out at the time, that Cricket Tas and CA had investigated it and made the findings public, this would now be a non-event. From what I've read, I believe that Paine resigned because the current CA board wouldn't support him (Current chairman has publicly said that if the current board was in place four years ago, Paine would have been sacked). I think it's a little disingenuous coming out in the media panning the decisions made by a previous administration and trying to claim a moral high ground. The only way it could have been worse, would be it the current board sacked him when they came onto the board and read the reports - and I'm sure there would have been something reported to the board at the time of the investigation.

As it happened, even though he was cleared, Paine's had this sword hanging over his head, because it never came out at the time, and there was always a possibility that someone would leak it - and someone did. And now, he's found out that his employer who previously had his back has left him hanging now.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
If I'm a player I'm furious with CA. The mantra should be "back me or sack me". They've tried have a bit each way and are rightly copping plenty.

How can you have a situation where a player is cleared not once, but twice by separate inquiries and then thrown under the bus by a new chair?

This is a private matter between Paine and his wife and they appear to have dealt with it. In any case, it's probably a relief that it's out in the open because unless there's any legal action it's case closed and they move on with their lives. If guys like Warnie can survive this stuff then I'm sure TP can.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
So Cummins is test captain and Smith is the vice captain.

This is the ideal setup in my view. We just need to ensure Steve Smith is empowered to take charge of field placings and provide some real direction to Cummins in the crucial times where it is needed.
 

John S

Desmond Connor (43)
Alex Carey, Josh Inglis and maybe Jimmy Peirson are probably the top 3 options.

I'd probably pick Inglis. He's four years younger than Carey and I think at least as good with the gloves.
I'm with you on Inglis. From what I've seen he'll go ok in the team with the gloves, and he's not totally hopeless with the bat.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I'd go with Inglis, because we try to have our keepers in the team a fair while. At 26 he's the ideal candidate and his glove work is actually pretty tidy and he's also had good form with the bat.
 
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