In the heart of the football season, and with the Olympics coming to an end, Tim Paine’s appointment as the head coach of the Adelaide Strikers BBL cricket team went largely unnoticed. Thankfully, I was in Darwin last week promoting the Top End T20 series on the morning Tim was told of his elevation as a first-time head coach and, with him also being in town for the tournament, we were able to go over old times. Having gone through a stringent process and rising above several more experienced and qualified coaches, I can understand why South Australian cricket was enamoured by the former Australian captain.
I was also absolutely delighted for my friend and colleague. Tim is one of the best people I have met in cricket. His professionalism was elite, his curiosity for improvement infectious, and his sense of humour always warmly received.
These, along with his talent as an outstanding wicketkeeper, make him the leader that he is. When I was appointed head coach of the Australian cricket team, Australian cricket was reeling from the ball-tampering scandal. Tim and I were tasked with restoring team culture and earning back the respect of our home supporters and our critics around the world.
One of the first steps in our journey was to visit the United States with then CEO James Sutherland, high performance manager Pat Howard and performance specialist Darren Holder. The five of us visited various sporting organisations to formulate our plan for achieving our goals. After a day.