Ashes 2021 | Tim Paine hopeful to play Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup game ahead of the series

The wicket-keeper batsman underwent neck surgery in September which meant surgeons had to cut a hole in his throat to fix the bulging disc issue. He had a two-week rest before undergoing rehabilitation to ensure he is fit for the first Test of the five-match series. He has been slowly recovering from the neck issue. In a conversation with SEN Hobart, the Aussie revealed that he was due for another training session on Thursday, November 4, but aborted due to stiffness. 

"I had a decent catch yesterday, [which was] pretty good. I had a bit of a dive around yesterday, so I'm a little bit stiff today.

"I was going to have a catch with the great Tim Coyle, the former Tasmanian coach...but I had to pull the pin on that just to give myself a bit of time to rest up, I don't want to be doing too much back-to-back days,” Paine said. 

"It's nothing to worry about, just a bit of stiffness having had a few months off. I've pulled up a bit sore. But yesterday was as I would train normally, so it's a really good sign that I got through that and I'm looking forward to playing a game of cricket in the coming weeks."

Cricket Australia has confirmed that Tasmania would play Western Australia in the Shield tournament starting on November 21 and a March Cup game on November 26 at Blundstone Arena. Australia will play a three-day intrasquad game in Brisbane at Redlands starting on December 1. The Aussie skipper is hopeful to play a club game in addition to the intrasquad game and Tasmania fixtures. 

"Ideally, I'd like to play a club game, a 2nd XI game, a Shield game, and a one-dayer for Tassie in late November and then go up to Queensland," Paine said. "Potentially I'm getting two, three or four games of cricket in before that first Test which would be a really good result."  

The first Test will be played at The Gabba in Brisbane from December 8.