Paine not needed in Tas team — veteran
THE lure to include Test skipper Tim Paine for Thursday night’s Big Bash semi-final might be tempting but veteran George Bailey backs the current Hobart team to deliver a maiden T20 title.
Paine, who has scored the third most runs for the Hurricanes (1198) behind D’arcy Short (1372) and Bailey (1349), has not featured in this year’s tournament due to a taxing six-test summer.
However he is available for selection – the Sydney Thunder rushed back Usman Khawaja and Pat Cummins for the clash in Canberra on Saturday night – while Nathan Lyon suited up for the Sydney Sixers yesterday.
Despite Caleb Jewell’s impressive BBL campaign, which included a blistering 61 not out against the Brisbane Heat, Paine could be an option to slot into No. 3 behind the dynamic opening duo of Short and Matthew Wade. But Bailey believes it would be a tough ask for the gloveman to find his groove in the Twenty20 format and declared the team’s success this year had been built on a stable starting XI.
“Our batting group has been unbelievably consistent so it would be a big ask for him to come in,” Bailey said after producing his third half century of the tournament at Manuka Oval.
“He has been focused on playing red-ball cricket for a fair bit of time so it is a big ask to come in and try and pick up the intensity and format of T20 cricket.”
Having been given the past two games off to recover from knee soreness, Hurricanes’ leading wicket-taker Faulkner will return for the semi at Blundstone Arena, with David Moody likely to make way.