Tim Paine to undergo neck surgery ahead of the Ashes

Australia Test captain Tim Paine has decided to go under the knife to fix his neck which has been troubling him for a while now. An official release from Cricket Australia has confirmed that wicketkeeper-batsman will undergo a surgery on Tuesday. The decision was taken considering he was unable to train with full intensity during pre-season training with Tasmania. 

The statement further elaborated that Paine had been carrying pain in his neck and left arm due to a bulging disc for a long time. A spinal surgeon in Hobart recommended him the surgery after which he decide to go under the knife. Tim Paine was satisfied with the fact that he will be able to fully recover in time and take on the field in the summer. 

"The consensus of the spinal surgeon and the CA medical team was to have the surgery now which will allow plenty of time to fully prepare for the summer," Paine said.

"I expect to be able to restart physical activity by the end of this month and be back in full training in October. I will be ready to go by the first Test and am very much looking forward to what will be a huge summer," he added.

This decision means that Paine will miss the matches in Sheffield Shield, a domestic tournament in Australia. Also, if at all Afghanistan travels to Australia, he might miss captaining the national team in the one-off Test at the end of November. The series is in doubt since the Cricket Ausralia (CA) has decided to cancel the match if women don’t get permission to play the sport under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. 

The good news from Tim Paine is that he is expected to be fully fit and running ahead of the all-important Ashes series starting December 8.