Future lies in Tassie keeper's safe hands

The hungry pack was waiting for him.

In the wake of the fresh ball-tampering fiasco, he looked akin to the proverbial in wolves’ clothing.

What’s it like to be captain of Australia was the first question – of course – in the role so stunningly vacated by Steve Smith just hours earlier in the day.

Bizzare. Weird. Strange.

The words kinda blurted out under the gaze of many cameras and bright lights, eyes gazing back at the man that six months earlier was barely the Tasmanian understudy to Test incumbent Matthew Wade.

How things change fast. Not just a season, but in a sunny Cape Town session.

One that turned overcast, cloudy for the Australians.

Except Paine. He shone.

From that moment, ‘The Kid’ was on a mission.

Six days later – including five in the Johannesburg whitewash – he spelled it all out. The transition of the type of leadership he wants.

What the sick-and-tired Australian public wants.

“[Changes] will continue to happen and we obviously have a new coach coming in at some stage, who will have a huge say on how that is,” Paine said with authority.

“But from my point of view, we just have to find the fine line between of being respectful of the opposition in the game and also being at a level that is just really competitive as you should be in Test match cricket.

“It’s probably going to be a different style to what the guys have been used to, but we’ll find it pretty quickly.”

That started out the back of the dressing rooms of the two teams that lie wall-to-wall at the Wanderers.

Rather than sulk over an bludgeoning 492-run loss, Paine wanted a cathartic experience with their South African conquers, sharing beers or, as he said prior to midday, maybe a coffee?

“We will [accept the invitation] – we’ve been invited in the next half hour, so we’ll go next door,” he said.

“We’ve got some young players in our team that will learn a lot from going to have a beer with some of the experienced players the South Africans have got.

“We would be foolish not to take that opportunity.”

The 33-year-old Paine is prepared for the hard yards.

No Smith. No Warner. No Bancroft for that matter.

Basically a remodelled batting lineup to the one that failed miserably in the republic, one that passed 350 just once – its first innings in Durban that was rewarded with a sole victory.

“But we’ll need to step up again that we’ve lost two of the best players in the world that are no longer in our team for the foreseeable future,” Paine said.

“So a lot of us have to step up and take up the slack.

“Australia has got the talent – we’ve just got to be able to harness it properly.”

Paine is switched on.

When you miss so many years through injury, you take what you can get.

Unlucky for some; others say Paine’s recall was lucky. Or a stroke of genius.

The Steve Bradbury of Australian cricket. But it’s easy to forget that before that gold, Bradbury had won Olympics relay bronze and a world championships gold.

Paine wants to line up on the same sort of starting line.

“I suppose the positive for us is that we do potentially in the next series have a clean slate,” Paine continued.

“Yeah, we have to learn our lessons from this series and where we can improve.

“If guys weren’t already thinking about that I will be pretty surprised.

“But it’s an exciting time – we’re going to have a new coach, a new sort of brand or culture or whatever you want to call it. The guys will get to have an input into that as well with the others being out at the moment.”

There’s calmness in the message, in his voice, almost reassurance to a nation in mourning, still shocked.

Both captain Smith and vice-captain Warner quit.

Next thing Paine is told, ‘you’re captain’. Not asked.

The wicketkeeper may not have asked, but he’s the sort of captain Australia needs.

He’s a man of men. One of convictions. The sort where next to the word integrity in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Paine. To the point, he was upfront over a disconnect that exists between team and fans.

Something that is out of whack with Australian societal values, as one South African reporter eloquently stated and Paine nodded.

“The first thing we have to do is listen – I potentially think we have put our head in the sand a little over the past 12 months,” he added.

“When we continued to win, we can kinda act and behave how we like and the Australian public would be okay with it, but what we’ve found out our Australian fans don’t necessarily like the way we go about it.

“It’s simple: we have to listen, improve behaviours and the way we play the game.”