Play tough cricket, Border tells Paine ahead of Pakistan series

SYDNEY: Former Australia captain Allan Border wants skipper Tim Paine to approach the game in a “tough, uncompromising” way.

The past nine months have upended Tim Paine’s international career. He made a surprise comeback to the Australia Ashes squad in November 2017 –- seven years after his last appearance in Tests.

Paine was handed Test and ODI captaincy after the ball-tampering controversy broke involving then skipper Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.“The first thing I’d be addressing is that we play the Australian way and get back on track there,” Border was quoted as saying by a website on Tuesday.

“Yes, we want to get back to playing tough, uncompromising cricket but there’s a spirit of play in the game. Australian teams have always done that really well. Tough cricket but fair. Maybe we’ve got a little bit away from that in the past.”

In his first assignment in England, Australia lost all five ODIs under Paine.Spin legend Shane Warne has been a vocal critic of Paine being handed the leadership role. Paine now faces the challenge of guiding Aussies back to winning ways.

Australia face Pakistan in a two-Test series in the United Arab Emirates in October and Border has asked Paine to not shy away from trusting his instincts despite playing just 13 Tests so far.

“He’s in charge now so he’s got to put his own style of captaincy there. He can’t be scared to back his own judgment. Even though he’s basically a rookie Test cricketer, he’s been around cricket for long enough to give it a gut feel. He will know what should and shouldn’t be happening, so he should back his gut instinct,” he said.

Border added that Paine has to ensure the unity between the players.“If you get that dressing room sorted out so it’s a happy place for players to be it’s a good solid start,” Border said.