Test cricket captain Tim Paine has refused to be drawn into a war of words with cricket legend Shane Warne, saying the spinner’s comments were just a matter of opinion.
“I’m going to let it go Jack, to be honest,” Paine said on SEN Radio.
“I told a few people that I would bite my tongue – I’ve got some things I need to concentrate on first.”
Earlier this week, Warne said there were “a lot of gaps” in the Australian team, and pointed the finger squarely at the skipper for both his tactics and batting form.
“Paine, he’s had a shocker the last couple of years as captain, tactically he’s been very poor, lost the last two series and can’t make a run,” Warne said.
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“But here’s the big thing: No one fears Australia anymore. Coming to Australia, everyone used to go ‘oh we’re going to have to be at our best to even compete’. Now they just believe they can beat Australia – every side.”
Paine conceded that there had been issues during his tenure, but left it there.
“What I will say is that Warnie is obviously very opinionated and he’s happy to give his opinion, and his job is to critique us.
“At times you have to give an opinion that people don’t like and might not necessarily agree with but at the end of the day that’s his opinion. We’ll let him have it for now.”
The skipper did concede that some of Warne’s concerns were valid.
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“We’re not hiding from the fact that we haven’t played our best Test cricket, there’s no doubt about that – particularly last summer.
“The summer before that we won 5-0, and we’ve had very, very little Test cricket so there are some guys who are struggling for some continuity and consistency.”
Paine said the COVID-19 pandemic had provided unique challenges that no previous Australian teams had to deal with, but they think that the team has plenty of improvement in them.
“We’ve got some challenges with guys being on a T20 World Cup, then coming home, doing two weeks’ quarantine in a hotel room without training, and then having about eight days before heading into the first Test. It’s going to be a challenge not only for us, but for England.
“There’s some challenges facing international sportsmen at the moment that others haven’t had to face in the past.”