The wicket-keeper batsman Tim Paine feels that he could have lost out on getting the captaincy of the Australian Test team due to the implementation of a voting process ahead of selecting the captain. Apart from Paine, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh will be joining the leadership group as the joint vice-captains for the two-match Test match series against Pakistan in UAE.

Paine pointed out the importance of the voting process which helped identify the leadership group. The process involved the top players holding an initial ballot to identify leaders within the extended group, with the top six vote winners presenting to a final panel. As quoted in cricket.com.au, he said, “I came across the captaincy in not ideal circumstances so to go back into the pool and to be voted back up by my peers was great.”

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He further added, “It means a lot to all three of us that we’ve been voted in by our peers. It was really important to have the player buy-in. Everyone went through that process, myself included. I think it was good for the players to be able to voice their opinion and have a say in who leads them. It was also great for the guys who had been nominated by the players to go through the process and be interviewed. It’s something that we don’t normally do and it was a good experience.”

Paine spoke about the possibility of giving away the captain’s position had he not been voted in and he said it probably wouldn’t have been his call. He took over the mantle of captaincy position Steve Smith after the ball-tampering saga shook the Australian team during the South Africa tour, added that he was pleased with Marsh and Hazlewood as his deputies as they are “trusted, respected” members of the Test group.