'I knew UK was my last ODI tour'

There was little surprise on Saturday when Tim Paine was officially replaced as captain of Australia's one-day team, not least from the man himself.

Paine has endorsed Aaron Finch as the right man to lead Australia's World Cup defence next year, the Tasmanian revealing he captained the Aussies during their 0-5 thrashing in England this year knowing it was likely his final act as an ODI player.

The seismic fallout from the South African ball-tampering saga meant relatively trivial issues – such as what it meant for Paine's future in the one-day side – were washed over.

Before the events in Cape Town, Paine had accepted the decision of national selectors that he was not in the frame for next year's World Cup and his focus would be solely on red-ball cricket.

But the shocking events at Newlands led to a change of plans; Paine, the new Test skipper, was also named temporary ODI captain for that England tour to give some semblance of stability in coach Justin Langer's first campaign at the helm.

But even before Paine boarded the plane to the UK, he knew that selectors ultimately wanted to revert to their original plan, barring a run of form with the bat that would make Virat Kohli envious.

That didn't happen, which meant Saturday's announcement that Finch would take over as full-time skipper was merely the formal confirmation of what Paine already knew.

"I saw it coming before the UK tour, to be honest," Paine told cricket.com.au.

"The plan … was to focus just on Test cricket. Then obviously what happened, happened and all of a sudden, we didn't have a captain or vice-captain. So I think it was about having some stability in the team when Justin first took over.

"But I was always aware of the fact that I wasn't going to be the person going forward for the World Cup and they would look in another direction.

"Clearly, had I gone there and scored three hundreds, things might have been different. But I knew the plan was that this was the way they'd be going.

"I think it will be (a blessing in disguise). It's one of the things that I'm quite excited by – to just focus on one form of the game and focus on how I want this (Test) team to develop."

Paine's mission of leading Australia's revamped Test side into a home series against the world's best side is a daunting one, and Finch is facing a similarly arduous task this summer.

Like Paine, Finch won't be able to rely on star batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner until next year and his side will enter the Gillette ODI series against South Africa, starting in Perth on Sunday, having won just two of its past 18 completed matches.

It's a slide that has seen the Aussies slump to sixth in the world, their lowest ebb in 34 years, and their humbling loss in England earlier this year – despite being without five of their best players – was a reminder of how far behind they've fallen since their World Cup triumph in 2015.

But not only does Paine believe Finch is the right man to lead Australia's Cup defence next year, he's bullish about their prospects of success.

Although he's cautioned that Finch, like himself, is still learning his craft as captain at the top level.

"I think our best cricket in one-day cricket can really surprise people," Paine said.

"(Finch is) in the prime of his career, he's playing beautifully, and I think at the moment he's playing so well, he's growing in confidence in everything he does.

"He's our best player in 50-over cricket at the moment.

"Having played with him and against him in state cricket, he's clearly a really good captain, he's very good tactically.

"Like myself, we're developing our leadership and trying to get better."

Australia v Proteas, Gillette ODI series, November 2018

First ODI: Perth Stadium, November 4

Second ODI: Adelaide Oval, November 9

Third ODI: Blundstone Arena, Hobart, November 11

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn.