Finally some gain for wicketkeeper Paine after all the injuries
brisbane — Seven or eight pins and a plate in the top joint. Some recycled hip bone in the shattered end. Multiple operations, and a lot of pain. Persistent finger injuries have been the story of Tim Paine’s life since he made his Test cricket debut in 2010.
Now that the veteran wicketkeeper has won a recall for Australia to start the Ashes series this week, as a shock replacement for old friend Matthew Wade, Paine is determined to make a difference.
“I’m not here for five minutes,” Paine told a news conference on Monday. “To be honest I’m sick of talking about being the person who hurt his finger and what could have been six or seven years ago.
“Hopefully I can be sitting in a room like this in two or three years and we’re talking about the back end of my Test career, not ‘He could have been a good player back in 2009.’ That’s something that’s
To be honest I’m sick of talking about being the person who hurt his finger and what could have been six or seven years ago Tim Paine
really exciting for me, is to be able to re-write my story a bit.”
Paine broke his right index finger while batting in a Twenty20 match in late 2010. It took a long time to heal and he had setbacks because of concern over the fragile bone. Now the only thing that rattles him is the occasional jarring from the handle when the toe of his bat swipes the ground.
Despite his optimism, Paine’s against-the-odds comeback has been polarising.
Ex-Australia captain and selector Allan Border described the selection of Paine above Wade and Peter Nevill as “bizarre,” and spin bowling great Shane Warne said it was a sign of confusion in the selections.
“He’s a good cricketer, Tim Paine, and I really wish him the best, but it is a strange one ... a real risky selection from the panel,” Border told Fox Sports. “All the keepers around the country will be scratching their head saying ‘what the hell is going on?’” —