Paine reaps the benefits of playing catch

THE spirit of Don Bradman and Ian Healy is being kept alive in quiet corners of multi-story car parks in the United Arab Emirates.

In the first Test in Dubai, Tim Paine produced one of the most impressive performances by an Australian wicketkeeper in decades and now the new captain has given a fascinating insight into the secret behind his flawless glovework. Test greats like Allan Border still worry about the enormous burden of being both captain and custodian, yet in oppressive conditions against Pakistan, Paine (pictured) took every half chance and underlined his leadership with the subtle but powerful gesture of imploring teammates to keep a lid on emotions after their great escape.

Paine admits “he tried too hard” on his failed first assignment as national captain in England earlier this year where Australia were whitewashed in one-dayers. So now Paine has simply gone back to what he’s always done on the back-buildings and carparks of Hobart: throwing a golf ball up against a wall and catching for hours on end. Bradman famously did a similar trick off a water tank and hit with a stump while Healy often retreated alone with inners on to throw a golf ball and catch.

“The beauty of it is I can catch 10 times as many balls as if I had someone hitting me balls,” Paine said. “It’s pretty boring but in some weird way I really enjoy it.”

Paine’s demeanour and skill level in Dubai in all facets of the game was remarkable. But he had to learn the hard way.

“One thing I learned (from England this year) was I probably trained too hard and tried too hard,” he said. “I was using quite a lot of energy even when I wasn’t at the cricket.”