SA vs AUS 2018: Tim Paine apologizes after "horrible 24 hours" at Newlands

Australia ended up losing the Test match.

Paine was the Stand in Skipper in Smith's absence. (AFP)

So much controversy and effort behind tampering the ball ultimately resulted in a Test match defeat for Australia which pegged them back in the series. Moreover, it saw their captain Steve Smith get a Test match ban from ICC and teammate Cameron Bancroft lose 75 percent of his match fees. 

What Australia lost more prominently was their loyal fans back home and the world over, after their horrendous tactics to win a cricket match. After Australia's loss at Newlands and a "horrible 24 hours" as per Australian wicketkeeper batsmen Tim Paine, he has now begged an apology and asked his teammates to look for some positives after the loss in Cape Town.  

“It’s been a horrible 24 hours to be perfectly honest. I’d like to take the opportunity to apologize to our fans and the Australians back home and over here, they deserve better than what we put up on Saturday.” he said during the post-match ceremony.

“It was difficult, no doubt, but that was one of things we spoke about this morning that we can control. The fact that we can go out today and compete.From that cricket perspective, it was extremely disappointing. The way we’ve, I suppose, folded in that last hour or 45 minutes is really disappointing on top of what was already a horrible Test match.”

Paine admitted it was tough to take over as captain in such circumstances but hopes the team can learn from such a damaging episode.

“It was difficult for all of us. The last 24 hours has been a real challenge, but down the track, there is an opportunity for us to grow as a team and individuals from it.” he added.

“We’ve got to try and take some sort of positive out of it long term and turn ourselves into the cricket team we want to be.”

Australia now will head off into the last Test of the series at Johannesburg without their regular skipper Steve Smith in a bid to level the series. 

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 26 Mar, 2018

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