Hurricane Paine swept up in storm
Scramble for safety as cluster clouds summer plans
Test captain Tim Paine is returning to the Big Bash as a Hobart Hurricane. But there will be little time to don the purple for some practice sessions. No sooner had he announced his comeback, he was whisked away into isolation as part of the Tasmanian team that had recently returned from its Shield match in Adelaide — the centre of a coronavirus cluster.
AUSTRALIAN Test captain Tim Paine says watching the Hurricanes march to the finals from the commentary booth last season sparked his desire to return to the Big Bash.
Paine — who was part of the first Hurricanes squad a decade ago — has not played in the past two seasons due to international and media commitments, but was unveiled on Monday as Hobart’s final domestic signing.
Speaking before he was forced into isolation due to a COVID- 19 outbreak in Adelaide, Paine said he had missed playing white- ball cricket and being around the team.
“It was probably at the end of last year, I started chatting to my manager when the Hurricanes were playing finals and I was there commentating,” Paine said.
“Whilst I enjoyed the stint and it’s something that I’ll look to probably do when I finish, I just missed the competitiveness, I missed being around the team, and didn’t enjoy being on the outside of it.
“For me, I can go to commentary in three or four years time if I need be, but for me at the moment I just want to play as much cricket as I can while I still can, and thankfully I’m fit enough to be still going, so I can’t wait to be back around the group and back around white- ball cricket.”
Paine said he would only be available for three or four matches and then the finals because of his commitments as Test captain.
He will lead Australia into battle in a four- match home Test series against India starting next month. Indian captain and star batsman Virat Kohli will only play the first Test before leaving Australia to attend the birth of his first child, and Paine admitted to having mixed feelings about the news.
“( I’m) disappointed certainly for the Australian cricket fans that rarely get to see a little bit of him … obviously as a player you want to play against the best players and beat them,” he said.
“But ( I’d) probably be lying if I said there wasn’t a side of me that … was slightly happy that he won’t be there for three of the Test matches, but you can’t hold it against him for going home.”
PLANS for the summer have been thrown into chaos with stars including Tim Paine, Matthew Wade and Cameron Green forced into isolation following a COVID outbreak in Adelaide.
The blockbuster day- night first Test against India due to start on December 17 at Adelaide Oval is now under a cloud, but the more immediate concern is the logistics around player movement for the international white- ball series and the fast- approaching BBL.
It is understood Tasmanian players who returned from playing Sheffield Shield matches in Adelaide last week received text messages from Cricket Tasmania on Monday morning instructing them to self- isolate at home, to wear face masks, report for COVID tests and await a possible call from state health officials.
WA players delayed their return to avoid the state’s quarantine restrictions, which were lifted on Friday.
They flew into the state from Adelaide on Saturday but were contacted by health officials on Sunday and told to self isolate and prepare for further instructions.
Police visited the home of at least one player to check the instructions were being followed, and local cricket authorities were meeting with police on Monday to ascertain what they needed to do.
Cricket Australia is working feverishly behind the scenes to determine what the developing drama means for those players and coach Justin Langer, who lives in Perth, being able to take flights to Sydney on Sunday to begin their international bubble.
Another potential issue could be how quickly cricket officials need to get the Adelaide Strikers BBL squad out of South Australia before the tournament starts on December 10 in hubs in the ACT and Tasmania.
A decision on the state of play is expected from Cricket Australia soon because several states including Queensland are considering potential border closures to South Australia.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said she will not close the border to SA, while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has identified Adelaide as a hot spot but says he will not close the border at this stage.
Cricket Australia says it’s too early to assess whether the cluster will have any impact on the first Test starting in a month, and at this stage it’s business as usual.