Former Australia captain Tim Paine has announced retirement from first-class cricket effective immediately. He walked through a guard of honour on the final day of his career for Tasmania and got pretty emotional. Paine led Australia in a handful of Test matches after sandpaper saga and also created history by retaining the Ashes in England. Overall, Paine played 35 Tests, 35 ODIs and 12 T20Is for his country while featuring in a mammoth 154 FC games, 136 List A and 81 T20 matches during his career that last for almost two decades.
Tim Paine led amidrably well for Australia and along with Justin Langer who was head coach then, took Australian cricket to greater heights. However, ahead of the Ashes 2021, he stepped down from captaincy and also took a mental health break following the sexting scandal in Tasmania cricket. He didn’t play international cricket after that but featured for Tasmania.
How did Tim Paine fare in his last season?
Tim Paine played seven matches for Tasmania this season and mustered 156 runs in 11 innings. He didn’t hit a single fifty or century. More than the bat, the cricketer was known for his exceptional wicket-keeping and for the same reason, he had made his comeback for Australia ahead of the Ashes 2017 after a 7-year long gap. Tim Paine didn’t attend even a the post-match press conference after retirement on the final day of Tasmania’s game but their captain Jordan Silk praised him a lot for his contribution.
“He’s been a phenomenal player.I think it’s around 22 years of professional cricket. It’s an incredible effort to have the longevity that he’s had. He’s certainly going to be missed behind the stumps. I certainly won’t play, I’m sure a lot of guys who are playing now will say that there will never be another keeper as good as Tim Paine in Australia.
“So we’ve been incredibly blessed down here. And we wish him all the best in whatever he chooses going forward. Considering his age the level of the standard of keeping and he’s still been able to generate has been really incredible. He’s always someone that you know is doing the work behind the scenes. I think he sets a great example for work ethic and all that sort of stuff for all of our guys,” Silk said.
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