Paine injection to banish agony
UNIVERSITY’S quest to reverse the devastating result from the CTPL T20 grand final will get a major boost with the Australian Test captain available for Monday’s Kookaburra Cup decider.
The Lions were battered from a Caleb Jewell onslaught in the first final of the season, with the Demons romping to a 10-wicket win a fortnight ago.
The two sides meet again in the 50-over format with Tim Paine — who will return to club cricket today against Clarence — a major inclusion for the Lions.
Hurricanes star James Faulkner has also been named in the two-day squad and could be a chance to feature on Monday at Blundstone Arena, but Uni skipper Jake Doran was keeping his cards close to his chest about both the key allrounder and plans to curb the influence of Jewell.
“We do [have plans for Jewell], but we probably can’t reveal too many. It does involve a certain person coming into the side that we’re looking forward to,” Doran said.
“He [Faulkner] might be chance, Monday might be a little too soon, we don’t know the full details. I think his injury was severe, it’s hard to judge, but I think the medical team are on to that.
“But for us it’s just playing our best cricket and doing what we’ve done well and had success in for the season so far.”
The Kookaburra Cup final will also extend the rivalry between the two clubs following Doran’s switch in the off-season.The Tigers squad member said a desire to assume more leadership duties — and open the batting — were the key factors in him leaving the Demons, where he had been since signing with Tasmania in 2015.
“For me it was trying to lead a team, it would have been a bit hard for the club to offer that to me with juniors coming through the ranks,” he said.
“Jewelly, you’ve got ‘Whitey’ [Jack White] and Alex Pyecroft that are all juniors of the club and have played there for multiple years, so I think it would have been a bit unfair for them to give me the leadership.
“But also opening … was a big decision maker as well. I wanted to open the batting and there’s a few guys that are in the North Hobart team that also wanted to do the same thing. I hope there’s no bad taste but for the next couple of years there’ll be certainly some rivalry.”