Test skipper Tim Paine on Wednesday urged Australia’s public to give Steve Smith and David Warner a second chance, saying he hoped “they’re welcomed back” into the national team. The pair’s year-long ban for ball-tampering is due to expire at the end of March and they are widely expected to be rushed back into a side that has struggled without them.
Asked if the trio should be welcomed back with open arms, Paine replied: “I think so.”
“I hope they’re welcomed back. I mean everyone is entitled to their own opinion and will have a different view on it.
“But I think that once they’ve done their time I’m very hopeful that the Australian public will welcome those three guys back and give them a fair chance.
“I mean, just to be treated like all other cricketers are,” he added ahead of the fourth and final Test against India.
Smith and Warner could possibly make their comebacks in a One-Day International in late March, when Australia have pencilled in a series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
