Australia’s stand-in skipper Tim Paine reckons that a change in culture for the Aussies “with our heads in the sand” will be the biggest positive to take from an otherwise dismal 3-1 test series loss to South Africa. The Kangaroos faced severe mental block after the ball-tampering scandal in which former skipper Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft were sent home after the third test and handed hefty bans.

But that was not the only issue for a team who had five players sanctioned during the series along with the resignation of the coach Darren Lehmann, Talking about the same after facing the 492-run defeat on Tuesday, Paine said, “It’s an exciting time, we are going to have a new coach and a new brand and culture. With the guys being out at the moment, there is also a chance for others to step up and play an extended period of test cricket. There are lots of positives and messages that we can take out of it (the series) and it’ll be good to get home, have a rest and think about it.”

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It was evident that the Australian fans were fuming after the ball-tampering fiasco which left the team unhappy affected their performance as well. Describing the same, Tim said, “We have to listen. We have potentially had our heads in the sand over the last 12 months that if we continue to win we can act and behave how we like and the Australian public will be OK with that. We found out in the last month that the Australian public doesn’t like the way we go about it, so it is pretty simple, we have to improve our behavior.”

However, ahead of the Johannesburg Test, Paine made an attempt to introduce a new culture, by starting the test with a handshake between the teams, the outcome was mixed, with South Africa admitting surprise at the “docile” nature of the Australian team who succumbed to such an embarrassing defeat.

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Describing the same, Paine said, “It was evident in this match that we have changed somewhat and that will continue to happen. We’ve got a new coach coming in at some stage, and he will have a huge say on how that is. We have to find the fine line between being really respectful of the opposition and also being at a level that is really competitive, as you should be in test cricket. “It is going to be a different style than a lot of the guys are used to, but I think we will find it pretty quickly. A lot of us have to step up and take the slack, but I think Australia has got the talent, we just have to harness it properly and if we do we will be OK.”