Paine set to return in cricket after one and a half year
Paine played his last match for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield in April last year. He was away from cricket since then. Many thought his career was over. But he is going to return to recognized cricket. The 37-year-old wicket-keeper batsman is returning to cricket after struggling with off-field controversies and depression.
Khan Mutasim Billah LifeEditor
Posted - 2022-10-05T00:08:53+06:00
Updated - 2022-10-05T00:08:53+06:00
Former Australia captain Tim Paine's career is going to gain momentum after almost a year and a half. He has earned a place in Tasmania's squad for the first game of the new Sheffield Shield season. If all goes well, Paine will return to professional cricket next Thursday (October 6) with a match against Queensland.
Paine played his last match for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield in April last year. He was away from cricket since then. Many thought his career was over. But he is going to return to recognized cricket. The 37-year-old wicket-keeper batsman is returning to cricket after struggling with off-field controversies and depression.
Paine was working hard to get back on the field. He was not included in Tasmania's contract this year. But he got a chance to practice with the team. A few days ago he went down to play a club match. There, he played an unbeaten innings of 20 runs with the bat. Now he’s returning to first-class cricket.
Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan is very happy with Paine's return. He said that Payne is going to return to the field with full preparation. "It was nice for him to get out there and play a game of cricket again," Vaughan said. "He was quite nervous before that match."
"He has been training with us the last couple of months. And it wasn't until we selected over the last week or two, firstly his name was on the table for one-day cricket and then he was on the table last week when we selected [the Shield]. And it was quite unanimous that everyone wanted one of the world's best wicketkeepers into our side.
"We have absolute faith and trust in Tim and his preparation. Physically he is probably in the greatest spot of his physical career, emotionally he is sound. He has been training really well with us the last two months. We have got full faith in his wicketkeeping skillset so he has ticked all of the boxes."
Paine has been away from cricket for so long due to various controversies off the field. A controversial incident of his past was leaked in November last year while he was Australia's Test captain. In 2017, he was accused of sending obscene messages and pictures to a female colleague. Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia investigated and later exonerated him. But there was a lot of criticism on the question of morality around Paine. He later gave up leadership and went on an indefinite hiatus from cricket due to depression.