Tim Paine

Timothy David Paine (born 8 December 1984) is an Australian former cricketer and a former captain of the Australia national cricket team in Test cricket. A right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper, he played for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket and was the captain of the Hobart Hurricanes before his selection for Australia in the 2017–18 Ashes series. During his time with Australia, Paine won the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

A product of the Australian Cricket Academy, Paine became the youngest-ever contracted player in Australia, when he received a rookie contract with Tasmania at 16 years of age. He made both his first-class and one-day debuts for Tasmania in 2005, scoring a one-day century later in the 2005–06 season, and a double-century, 215, in his next innings. He was a part of the state's maiden Sheffield Shield victory that season and also their 2007–08 one-day winning team. Paine made his ODI debut for Australia as a replacement for regular wicket-keeper Brad Haddin in 2009 against Scotland. A further injury to Haddin in 2010 paved the way for Paine's Test debut against Pakistan in England. Soon after, he played in another two Tests against India, before Haddin's recovery for the 2010–11 Ashes series. From that time – including almost two full seasons lost to injury – he was not a regular in the Australian cricket team from April 2011 until his recall for the 2017–18 Ashes series.

After former Australian captain Steve Smith admitted to involvement in a ball-tampering incident during the Third Test against South Africa in March 2018, Smith and vice-captain David Warner were stood down from their leadership positions mid-match. Paine was announced as the interim captain for the final two days of the game and later confirmed as the 46th captain of the Australian Test team. Paine stepped down as Australia's Test captain in November 2021 due to an occasion of improper conduct off the field during 2017 in which he sent explicit messages to a female co-worker. He did not play for Australia again, and in 2023 retired from all formats of cricket.