Captaincy was up for grabs in vote: Paine

Test skipper Tim Paine says the recent process undertaken by Australia's top players to identify two new vice-captains has reaffirmed his leadership, but revealed it could also have seen him step down from the job.

After a lengthy process used by many leading Australian Football League teams and invoked by coach Justin Langer, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Marsh were on Thursday confirmed as dual deputies to Paine.

Australia's top players held an initial ballot to identify leaders within the extended group, with the top six vote winners presenting to a panel featuring some of Australian cricket's most influential figures.

Paine, who was ratified as Steve Smith's successor by the Cricket Australia Board earlier this year in the aftermath of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, insisted the process was not a box-ticker.

Asked if he would have considered vacating the captaincy if he hadn't been among the top handful of vote-getters, the 33-year-old said: "Yeah I'd imagine so.

"It probably wouldn’t have been my call. We took it very seriously and the players had their say, then there was a (presentation) process after that as well.

"It was not done to tick boxes or anything like that. It was to make sure we had the right people leading this team going forward."

Paine expressed his satisfaction with the appointments of Marsh and Hazlewood, labelling them "trusted, respected" members of the Test group.

Tasked with one of the most scrutinised jobs in the country following a tumultuous period for the sport, Paine has flagged a new way for the national men's side under his stewardship. 

The Tasmanian has said he'll continue the pre-series ritual of shaking hands with their opposition for the two-Test series against Pakistan as Australia look to rebuild their reputation in the wake of Cape Town.

"I came across the captaincy in not ideal circumstances so to go back into the pool and to be voted back up by my peers was great," Paine told cricket.com.au in Dubai.

"It means a lot to all three of us that we've been voted in by our peers. It was really important to have the player buy-in.

"Everyone went through that process, myself included. I think it was good for the players to be able to voice their opinion and have a say in who leads them.

"It was also great for the guys who had nominated by the players to go through the process and be interviewed. It's something that we don't normally do and it was a good experience."

Aside from Paine and his two new deputies, uncapped Test squad members Aaron Finch and Travis Head, along with national T20 vice-captain Alex Carey, were the other three players identified by their colleagues as the group leaders.

Langer conceded there was some initial resistance to the concept that flew in the face of the tradition of the CA Board appointing a captain and vice-captain on the recommendation of selectors.

His vision centred on preparing a pool of players to be ready and able to assume leadership positions should they arise at short notice, as occurred in March. The nominated players presentations were not based on how they envisioned handling a specific role but to put forward their approach to leadership more generally.

The panel they presented to consisted of CA Board chairman David Peever, former Test captains Mark Taylor and Greg Chappell, Team Performance executive general manager Pat Howard, selection chief Trevor Hohns and psychologist Dr. Michael Lloyd, as well as Langer himself.

"It doesn't really matter what the title is, you want eleven leaders and this was just one part of that," Langer told cricket.com.au recently.

"Some of them have been around a lot longer; some of them might aspire to be a captain down the track, so I think overall the process has been excellent."

Qantas Tour of the UAE

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

Pakistan Test squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan

Sep 29 - Oct 2: Tour match v Pak A, Dubai

Oct 7-11: First Test, Dubai

Oct 16-20: Second Test, Abu Dhabi