New Test captain Tim Paine says sledging won't be a part of the Australian team under his leadership, the Tasmanian vowing to clean up the side's image and win back the public's support following the ball-tampering scandal. As players await the announcement of their new head coach following the resignation of Darren Lehmann, and the outcome of a review into the team's culture, Paine has already promised a fresh approach for their next Test campaign, against Pakistan in October. The 33-year-old revealed the Australian team had already begun some introspection about their aggressive style of play in the weeks leading up to the Cape Town Test and, now that the team's behaviour has come to a head, it's his job to lead a positive change. "No, I don't think it will, not a lot," Paine said when asked if sledging will remain a part of the Australian team's tactics.
"I think there's always a time and a place to talk to your opposition, but I think what's said and how it's said will be very different going forward. "A lot of this stuff we were actually starting to speak about under Steve (Smith?s captaincy) already. A lot of the players had their head around the fact we needed to change the way we play. Some of those conversations were already being had. "I'm really looking forward to playing that role and winning back the trust and respect of our fans and the Australian public first and foremost. That's a really exciting thing for our playing group. "(Smith) is someone I'll certainly be speaking too quite closely about how we go about it and keeping him in the loop. Because we'd started to have these discussions a few months ago and Steve was keen for the team to start playing a different style. So for me it's about carrying that on." With six months until their next Test series, Paine says his players have time to get away from the team environment and think more about how they want to play the game.
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