Former Aussie captain Tim Paine has moved to defend chief selector George Bailey, insisting he has no qualms about Bailey’s role across his retirement.
Paine quit as captain in November 2021 after the revelation of a sexting scandal and never played for Australia again.
It’s a topic that has been thrown back into the headlines following a controversial column from former Aussie quick Mitch Johnson, who tore shreds off David Warner before also hitting out at Bailey.
Johnson, writing for the West Australian, said: “When then-captain Tim Paine’s career was ending over the sexting controversy, chairman of selectors George Bailey said he didn’t want to be part of deciding Paine’s fate because the pair were close friends.
“Bailey said he would leave it to then coach Justin Langer and fellow selector Tony Dodemaide to work it out.
“The handling of Warner in recent years, who played with Bailey in all three forms, raises the question of whether Bailey was simply too quickly out of playing and into the job and too close to some of the players.”
Paine, who is close friends with Bailey, admits it’s a fair question to ask. But responding to Johnson's article on SEN Tassie Breakfast, insists Bailey made the right call.
“I can only comment on when I dealt with George. Anything that we had cricket related, retirement related, we were always talking when that might be,” Paine said.
“The difference with this one was it wasn’t cricket related, the ending of my career. George had a little bit of a conflict of interest, so the professional thing to do was to withdraw himself from that conversation.
“Not only are we close friends, he knows my family, he knows everything in my life… there was a lot of other sensible people sitting around the table from Cricket Australia who were having discussions.
“So that was fine by me, I don’t think it was a courage thing. George and I would always have back and forth and (selector) Tony Dodemaide and (high performance manager) Ben Oliver and (former coach) Justin Langer about when I might retire and how were are going to handle it.
“Everyone was on the same page with that but this was a different unique situation and I think George coming out of that was the sensible and professional thing to do.
“100 per cent (he would have been involved if it was a cricket decision), he was, it was always open dialogue.”
Bailey was named chairman of selectors in August of 2021, just over a year after retiring from cricket in February 2020. Responding to Johnson's sentiment on Sunday, Bailey said: “I’ve been sent little snippets of the article. I hope he’s okay.”
Paine was Australia’s captain from March 2018.
Paine added: “I think a lot of his (Johnson's) article, he raised some pretty valid points. The George stuff I didn’t love, I thought that was a bit unnecessary, but was George too quickly from a player to a selector? It’s a valid question.
“He obviously thinks he was. I don’t, I worked with George and I think anyone who knows George would never question his integrity or his professionalism or ability to do that job… you look at the success they’ve had as a team, you can't question that.
“But it is a fair question. He did go very quickly from a player to a coach, he is friends with a lot of those players.”
Overall, Paine was accepting of Johnson’s column, suggesting it was an opinion that made him question his own.
Warner has publicly stated he wants to retire after the New Year's Test in Sydney, but Bailey and selectors have made no guarantees he will make it that far.
The opener’s form in Test cricket has been questionable at best in recent years, with Johnson writing: “Why (does) a struggling Test opener gets to nominate his own retirement date. And why (does) a player at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in Australian cricket history warrants a hero’s send-off?”
It’s not a take Paine agrees with, but one he understands.
“Mitch raises some great points. Statistically, David hasn’t been playing well and would other people be getting the run he’s getting now? Probably not,” he said.
“But in my opinion, he’s got credits in the bank because he is one of the all-time greats.
“I didn’t agree with it all but I found myself reading it and asking myself the question and that’s basically want you want in an article.
“I think you can read between the lines that he and Davey don’t get along… I think they’re just different people, just from what I’m reading.”
Furthermore, Paine said: “I think the points around the stats and his position in the team and him getting a bit of extra time were probably ruined a bit by the personal nature of it and bringing sandpaper back into it and saying David was a person who used his leadership position for power and stuff like that, I played with David and he certainly didn’t do that.”
Paine also urged others to be accepting of Johnson’s opinion and praised the courage to write it.
With the release of the squad to face Pakistan for the first Test in Perth, Warner is set to be given at least that match to earn his spot for the summer.
The 37-year-old is also coming off an impressive World Cup campaign, earning a spot in the Team of the Tournament.
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