He’s got the support of all the players: Harris on Paine joining squad ahead of Ashes

Harris
also
revealed
that
the
playing
group
found
out
of
Paine’s
decision
to
step
down
just
30
minutes
before
he
faced
in
the
media
on
Friday
(November
19).

“There
wasn’t
much
time
to
digest
it,
but
it
was
a
shock,”
Harris
told
reporters
on
Wednesday
(November
24).

“Tim’s
obviously
been
a
greater
leader
around
the
group,
he’s
always
been
really
good
to
me
and
my
family
–
our
hearts
went
out
for
Tim,
and
Bonnie,
and
the
kids
and
his
family.

“As
long
as
it’s
COVID-safe
I’ll
give
him
a
hug,”
he
added.

Australia
will
be
without
captain
for
15
years
if
it
is
looking
for
perfect
skipper,
says
Clarke

Paine
stepped
down
as
Australia’s
Test
skipper
on
Friday
after
it
emerged
that
he
had
sent
unsolicited
explicit
image
of
himself
along
with
a
string
of
lewd
messages
to
a
female
co-worker
in
2017,
months
before
he
was
made
captain.

“He’s
done
a
really
good
job
in
the
last
few
years,
under
tough
circumstances.
You’d
probably
still
argue
that
he’s
still
the
best
gloveman
in
the
country,
and
he
still
played
some
really
important
innings
last
summer
against
India.

“I
know
he’s
got
the
support
of
all
the
players,”
said
Harris,
who
has
played
all
his
10
Tests
under
Paine’s
captaincy.
The
Test
opener
said
the
players
have
reached
out
to
the
wicketkeeper
individually
but
Langer
and
Paine
haven’t
addressed
the
squad
directly.

“Probably
everyone’s
spoken
to
him
personally,
I
sent
him
a
message
the
other
day
and
spoke
to
him
a
little
bit.
Obviously
Painey’s
a
very
popular
member
of
the
group.”

Time
is
right
to
make
Pat
Cummins
captain,
says
Shane
Warne

Paine,
who
had
gone
under
the
knife
to
fix
a
bulging
disc
in
his
neck
in
September,
is
the
only
stumper
in
Australia’s
15-player
squad
for
the
Ashes,
which
was
announced
before
he
stepped
down.

The
development
comes
weeks
ahead
of
the
five-Test
Ashes
series
against
traditional
rivals
England.
The
first
Test
begins
in
Brisbane
on
December
8.

Harris
is
confident
there
are
several
players
in
the
squad
who
can
step
up
and
lead
the
side.

“People
were
a
bit
shocked,
but
we’ve
got
leaders
around
our
group
–
so
it’s
not
ideal,
but
someone’s
going
to
have
to
step
up
and
lead
from
the
front
and
there’s
plenty
of
people
who
can
do
that
job.”

Paine
is
expected
to
play
an
intra-squad
match,
starting
December
1,
but
there
still
isn’t
clarity
if
he
will
be
included
in
the
playing
XI
after
the
recent
developments.