Australia captain Tim Paine had his team shake hands with the Proteas before the fourth Test at the Wanderers began on Friday.

Paine replaced Steve Smith as captain after the latter’s involvement in the ball-tampering scandal at Newlands saw him receive a one-year ban.

The culture of the Australia team under Smith and coach Darren Lehmann has been heavily criticised, and Paine is already making a concerted effort to change the way they behave under his leadership.

Before the Test began on Friday, he asked his players to shake hands with the opposition in football-like fashion.

‘I’ve been watching the soccer on SuperSport and I noticed they do that every game,’ said Paine. ‘Cricket is a gentleman’s game and I spoke to our players about bringing that in. I’m not saying it’s something that we have to do every Test match, but it’s not a bad way to start a Test series.

‘It’s something we will look to use going forward. I think it’s a good form of sportsmanship.’

‘It’s great to see,’ said Aiden Markram, who has been tipped to succeed Faf du Plessis as Proteas captain. ‘There’s been a lot of drama this last week, so to start afresh this Test match and start it that way [with handshakes] was a great gesture from the Australians.’

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