Among the shortest priced favourite would be for the cliché line that the Australian captaincy is the the most important job in the country behind the Prime Minister.

Maybe the line stuck around in part because of the absurdity of it. After all, how does a man directing other men to chase a leather ball around compare to a man trying to protect the coal industry against the dying of the light as the rest of the world wants to invest in the future?

The line would be somewhat true, except for the fact our politicians, including Engadine Macca's best customer, have a habit of using terminological inexactitude as Sir Winston Churchill labelled it.

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It is rather ironic when our cricketers use that same inexactitude, as they did in 2018 initially, the Prime Minister at the time was strong on how it damaged the nation's brand.

After all, what 11 players do on a cricket field would be much more damaging than, say, effectively being labelled a liar by another world leader at an international summit.

For all the absurdity of the line, it does point to the reverence with which Australians hold their summer sport.

It rallies us, it unites us and it soundtracks our summer.

Holding the captaincy often leads to you getting a statue outside a sporting ground where pigeons can nest.

The Test captaincy should be the realisation of a dream, the completion of a journey which for many starts in the suburban and rural ovals around Australia.

It's a high-pressure position which comes with a fair financial reward. After all they are the face of the team and Cricket Australia, the media and fans expect a lot from the captain.

It is often a common defence that the financial reward is apt compensation for the mental and physical toll which will be exacted as you become one of the most newsworthy figures in the nation.

As some people will point out, you are also given the role model title and expected to be a shining example to the rest of us.

Given the aftermath of Cape Town, which saw Steve Smith exit in a teary mess, and the equally teary mess of Tim Paine's exit, it does seem like something is wrong.

One misstep from a pedestal not of their own making and both found themselves out in the cricket wilderness with little support.

During 2018 and in the public messaging since Paine, Cricket Australia have never seemed right behind the men they entrusted to be the face of the brand.

Perhaps it has to do with Cricket Australia's increasingly corporatised board that they've become evidently more image-conscious.

It's a move that has not ingratiated CA's top brass with the Apple Isle faithful.

"Yet, at a time when CA should have supported Tim, he was evidently regarded as dispensable. The treatment afforded to the Australian Test captain by Cricket Australia has been appalling, and the worst since Bill Lawry over 50 years ago," Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin said.

Paine's actions were dumb, given the workplace nature and everything available on evidence.

But the handling of the situation does seem odd given in everyday life we're being told to own our errors.

One look on social media would confirm that holding each other to account over terminology or viewpoints is very in vogue.

It's a good thing. People change and so do viewpoints.

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CA even admitted they've changed their tune from the board that cleared Paine in their initial investigation.

"Faced with the facts as they are today, the board of Cricket Australia today would not have made that decision," said CA chairman Richard Freudenstein last week.

The organisation has since indicated Freudenstein meant if the issue happened in 2021, things would be different. Obviously, not that he was attempting to throw the previous board under the bus in an effort to shift the blame from a PR disaster.

Given Freudenstein's other comment last week that Paine's resignation was "absolutely appropriate" as the captain was held to the "highest standards", you could even argue they have changed their tune on standards.

It's not like they happily made Paine out to be Australia's man for cultural rejuvenation while knowing they all stood on a landmine.

Perhaps, we should all accept we make mistakes and aim to be better.

Paine and wife Bonnie's insight in recent days that they became a better couple in wake of the incident would point to owning a mistake and aiming to be better is possible.

"It was never a question of love. We have always loved each other deeply. You need to forgive. People deserve second chances," Bonnie said to the Sydney Morning Herald .

People are entirely fallible, it's why the term "human error" is common parlance.

Yet, highlighted by the indignation after Cape Town and in the aftermath of Paine, we seemingly expect more from our athletes.

Perhaps the money and fame they are given allows us the expectation. In reality, Paine's issue solely affected him and his wife, it had no bearing on his field placings in the Ashes.

Pat Cummins is now entrusted with one of Australia's hardest jobs.

From his first press conference, Australia's 47^th Test captain moved away from the ideal of perfection.

"I think a lot of the pressure and the responsibility of being perfect is unreasonable," he said.

"I think it's too much to ask of anyone and you've got to have permission to grow.

"We're going to have players come into our side, with teenagers who are just out of school, who are growing up.

"They've got to be able to fail and know that they're allowed to grow from that."

As the first fast bowling captain since Ray Lindwall, Cummins may face some added scrutiny about how he and the team balance his responsibilities.

"I won't always get things right, I'm certainly not perfect, there's going to be things that pop up," Cummins said.

"But as long as I can sleep at night I'm really comfortable with the responsibility of that."

It's almost as if the pedestal of perfection is ultimately unattainable.

After all, we seemingly do not expect the same of Canberra's finest.

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