Ashes 2019: Australia's Test captain Paine reveals new Churchill-inspired team slogan but is left red-faced
Australia’s Test cricket captain has been left embarrassed ahead of the Ashes after revealing the side’s Winston Churchill-inspired slogan - though there is no proof the former Prime Minister said it.
Tim Paine has led the new-look Australian Test team since the infamous sandpaper scandal in South Africa in 2018.
A change in perception has been at the centre of his leadership, which has seen the visitors engage in pre-match handshakes with the opposition, and Paine revealed some words of inspiration.
"There's been a quote going around our changing room this week from Winston Churchill actually and that's, 'Behaviour doesn't lie'," Paine said.
Though a valiant source of inspiration, it would appear there is no proof that it was Churchill who said that quote.
Indeed, a fact check revealed experts on the iconic British figure cannot find any evidence it was him.
After developing a decades-old reputation for playing in an aggressive fashion, both physically and verbally, the skipper has led the charge to change their ways.
The Newlands sandpaper scandal saw then-captain Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft banned after being found guilty of attempting to tamper with the ball.
Smith and Warner received year-long bans from international cricket while Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
The subsequent outrage from both the Australian and wider public resulted in an inquiry - and Paine’s new-feel Test side are representative of the recommended change.
But the Australian skipper added - with more than a sense of fatigue at having to address the scandal - that he wants the public to judge his side on their ability to back up their words.
The 34-year-old added: "I think it's a great quote for us and a great quote for you guys (the media) because instead of coming into every press conference for the last 12 months and talk about our behaviour, you can just watch us and judge for yourself.”
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