Paine: I could have lost captaincy in leadership vote

Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Marsh were voted in as joint vice-captains ahead of the team’s two-match series in the UAE against Pakistan.

And Paine has stressed the importance of the process, which saw him and his vice-captains put forward for their positions by their team-mates.

Australia's top players held an initial ballot to identify leaders within the extended group, with the top six vote winners presenting to a final panel.

"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.

"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 been 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."

Asked if he would have considered vacating the captaincy if he hadn't been voted in, Paine 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 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 added that he was happy with the appointments of Marsh and Hazlewood, saying they are "trusted, respected" members of the Test group.

Australian XI for tour match v Pakistan A:

Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh (vc), Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc