Former Australia captain Tim Paine has lashed out at former Australia greats for praising the West Indies for their historic win at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Former Australia captain Tim Paine has lashed out at former Australia greats for praising the West Indies for their historic win at the Gabba in Brisbane. West Indies beat Australia by 8 runs in a nail-biting finish to level their two-match Test series 1-1.
Speaking to SEN Tassie, Paine said former Australia cricketers praising West Indies made him uncomfortable. Several former stars like Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist hailed West Indies’ win at the Gabba with Ponting saying, ”what a moment in the history of the game.”
“I get it from a fan’s point of view, it annoys me when I hear past players commentating and almost barracking. I find that really hard to listen to. It was awesome for the West Indies. It was not great for Australia. It wasn’t a great performance. I just don’t like it. It makes me uncomfortable. Why are you barracking against your team? That you played in?,” said Paine.
Gilchrist, who was part of the commentary team at the Gabba, was swept up in the moment after legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara appeared to be emotional after the end of the match.
This video says it all! Gilly hugging Lara! ❤️
What a match! #AUSvWI
pic.twitter.com/R1Kx2h8UxZ— DK (@DineshKarthik) January 28, 2024
Paine captained Australia for 23 Test matches between 2018 and 2021. He stepped in to lead Australia when Steve Smith was banned from the team in the wake of the sandpaper gate scandal during Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2018.
AUS vs WI, 2nd Test: Match Report
Paine stepped away from captaincy in 2021 following a sexting scandal. Paine played 35 Test matches, scoring 1534 runs at an average of 32.63. He scored 890 runs in 35 ODIs and 82 runs in 12 T20Is during his time playing for Australia.
HEALY HITS OUT AT CUMMINS
Former wicket-keeping batter Ian Healy also hit out at Australia skipper Pat Cummins, saying he was a bit too glowing of the West Indies post their win in Brisbane. Speaking after the match, Cummins said West Indies played brilliantly and deserved to draw the series 1-1.
“You know, I wasn’t that happy with Pat Cummins and how he dealt with. He’s a bit too glowing of the West Indies. I like that bit, but I don’t think he’s paying enough attention to his side’s underachievement. Do you reckon they played brilliantly? We only had to chase 216, that means they didn’t play brilliantly until the last day. Australia let them into that match big time,” said Healy.
