Matthew Wade's second-innings batting performance may have drawn criticism from some of the sport's biggest names but Tim Paine certainly has his back.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In an innings labelled 'bizarre' by Kerry O'Keeffe, Wade was struck on the body multiple times by New Zealand's bowlers, particularly Neil Wagner, while not playing a shot.
While the number-five batsman scored 17 from 52 balls, O'Keeffe's colleague and former England captain, Michael Vaughan, quipped: "that can't be the way Matthew Wade wants to play in Test cricket", to which Paine later said otherwise.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
"I think some guys are going to take it on and continue to take it on and others are going to wear it," Paine said.
"Wadey's pretty happy to wear them, Marnus [Labuschagne] is going to play it I'd imagine - he likes playing that shot and he thinks it can score him a lot of runs.
"I know a lot of our boys have talked about where their fields are and if they get this certain field, they are happy to play it, if the field is this way, they are going to duck them."
Comparing the weekend's battle to the famed 1932-33 'bodyline' series, Paine said this contest was played in good spirits, describing Wagner as "someone you'd love to have on your team" before delivering a parting glance to his team-mate.
"I think Wadey just likes to show off, show how tough he is, so he's going to duck into them and wear them and try and get into a bit of a fight.
"The battle between him and Wagner is going to be great to watch and I thought both of them did it in the right spirit."
The two Tasmanian wicket-keepers, whose careers have always been linked through obvious reasons, have been playing cricket together effectively since they could, dueling in backyard battles in Lauderdale.
With Paine the security guard at the door of the state's wicket-keeping spot, Wade moved to Melbourne in 2007 to secure a gig with Victoria as the two had to wait until this year's Ashes series to play their first match of international cricket together.
Wadey's pretty happy to wear them
- Tim Paine
Since then, Wade, the younger of the pair, has been somewhat of a lucky charm for his captain, as the Australians are yet to lose a series with the 31-year-old in the side and have a win-loss record of 5-2 with a draw.
Now finding himself fielding at short-leg more often than not, Wade has scored 464 runs at an average of 35.67 to boost the side.
Paine was even able to throw the ball to Wade in the first innings of the most recent Test match as leading quick Josh Hazlewood was out of action with a hamstring strain.
Beating the bat of Ross Taylor and bowling similar speeds to bowling all-rounder Tim Southee, Wade rolled out two overs for eight runs, prompting his captain to describe him as someone who's "not bad" with the ball.
The Australians will now have an 11-day break from competitive match-play before taking to the MCG for the annual Boxing Day Test, with at least one change guaranteed given Hazlewood's injury.
With James Pattinson and Michael Neser already in the squad, coach Justin Langer has thrown Peter Siddle's name out there as a potential squad replacement.
While you're with us, did you know that you can now sign up to receive breaking news updates direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
Subscriptions are available here.