Tim Paine, who has been described as “emotionally sound,” will play his first major game since a sexting scandal terminated his international career on Wednesday. The former Australia captain was named to Tasmania’s team on Tuesday for a Sheffield Shield match.
On the eve of the Ashes series against England in November of last year, Paine resigned as Test captain after learning that inappropriate text messages he had exchanged to a female colleague in 2017 were going to be made public.
A week after the shocking disclosure, Paine announced he would be taking a “foreseeable future” break from all forms of cricket due to concerns for a player who had previously been regarded as spotless.
Nevertheless, he never left the game and was included in Tasmania’s 13-man roster for their Shield encounter against Queensland in Brisbane starting on Thursday.
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According to Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan, “He has been training hard with us for the past few months.”
Everyone agreed that having one of the top wicketkeepers in the world in our lineup was a must.
Matthew Wade, who is on Australian duties ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup later this month, is poised to pass the baton to Paine, who will face a Queensland team that includes Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, two former Test teammates.
The 37-year-old has been practising with the Tasmanian state squad as an uncontracted player and returned to lower-level cricket last weekend with his club side.
“We have complete confidence in Tim and his preparedness,” Vaughan said. “Physically, he is arguably at the pinnacle of his physical career. He is emotionally stable.
“We have complete confidence in his wicketkeeping abilities, therefore he has checked all of the boxes.”
Paine was recruited to rebuild Australia’s reputation following the “Sandpaper-gate” ball-tampering controversy in 2018, which shook the world of cricket and cost Steve Smith the captaincy.
When Paine resigned, Pat Cummins became the new Test captain and Aaron Finch the new white-ball captain.
“I believe having Tim around is extremely helpful for Australian cricket,” Finch said on the Gold Coast ahead of Australia’s T20 match against the West Indies on Wednesday.
“Having his expertise back around the side with a roster that contains a few young players, Tasmania will be better for it.”
“I believe Tim’s involvement in Australian cricket benefits the game.”