‘To be given this opportunity, I’m obviously rapt’ – Tim Paine energized for BBL coaching debut

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It’s not the first time former Test skipper, Tim Paine, has been presented with a fresh chance of rejuvenating his cricketing journey. Unlike the last few times when it came as a player, this time around, it has come in the form of being a head coach.

Having been associated with the Big Bash League for 11 seasons (2012-2022) during which he was a part of the roster of the Hobart Hurricanes, Paine will now be delegated the responsibility of coaching the 2017/18 winners, the Adelaide Strikers.

Paine shared that his approach to coaching was the same as what it was during his heydays. Paine was also pumped up by his ultimate aspiration being a constant motivator for him.

“I don’t want to over-share what I want to do, but when I played I was the same – I wanted to play at the highest level. I want to coach at the highest level I can, where that is I’m not sure – if it’s in leagues or Shield cricket eventually, or who knows how high I can go. To be given this opportunity, I’m obviously rapt,” stated Paine, as quoted by The West Australian.

Paine also revealed how this was an ideal opportunity to implement all the ideas he had in his mind, and considered it to be an exciting prospect.

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“I’m sure coaches I’ve played under would tell you, I’ve had a lot of ideas. I think they’d have a bit of a chuckle now – ‘good Painey, you can go out and show us if you can do it’. I’m looking forward to putting some ideas I’ve had in my head for a long time into action, which is going to be exciting. It’s going to be a challenge,” mentioned Paine.

We have a team that can compete and hopefully win it: Paine

With Ollie Pope being the Strikers’ pre-draft signing and them retaining the likes of Jamie Overton and Fabian Allen, Paine was confident about the roster doing wonders in the impending season.

“I’m just excited. We’ve finished off our squad really nicely with the skillsets that we wanted. We have all bases covered for the style of cricket we want to play. We have a team that can compete and hopefully win it,” added Paine.

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Paine is one of the few cricketers who has played for a single franchise throughout his BBL career. He scored 1129 runs in 44 matches with eight fifties to his name.