Australia head coach Justin Langer admitted that Tim Paine is “shattered” by the sexting scandal and after the incident his life will change, but he was confident that the wicketkeeper-batter could return to cricket, having taken mental health break from the game.
The coach also revealed that he went to Hobart to see Paine and called the former skipper “a really close friend” and “one of the best people I've met in the game of cricket”. Langer also lamented that Paine paid a "heavy price" for his mistake four years ago.
Langer said in Brisbane, “He's been our captain for a long time; he and I have been through a journey, so it was nice to go down and see him. You'll have to ask him how he's going, but when I saw him he's obviously shattered with what's happened because he has been an exemplary figure in Australian cricket, for the last four years particularly. And his life changed.”
He further added, “He loves cricket. I think he's 37 and he is as fit as any athlete certainly in our squad, and we have some fit athletes. He looks after himself so well, he's really focused and so who knows. His number one priority at the moment is his family as you can imagine, and that's how it should be. I'm not sure we've seen the end of him, but we'll wait and see. That's his decision.”
Meanwhile, Langer said that vice-captain Steve Smith will be a big help for the new captain Pat Cummins, who has so many people around to help him in his job.
The coach further mentioned, “I think the role of Steve Smith will become very important on the field... David Warner has as good a cricket brain as anyone in the game, and Alex Carey's been a captain before and he's now behind the stumps. He's got his best mates there (Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc), they'll all have their view on it so I think he will be fine strategically.”
Langer signed off by saying, “It will just be maintaining the balance with his bowling role, captaining and all the other commitments that come with it. But he's has got massive upside, Pat Cummins, as a leader and captain of Australian cricket.”
(With AFP Inputs)
