Cricket Australia CEO: 'We want Tim Paine back as soon as possible'

Brisbane, December 9: Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley has backed Tim Paine to return to country's Test squad, saying he wants to see the former skipper "playing and performing" for Australia again.

Paine took an indefinite mental health break from the game after stepping down as Test captain ahead of the Ashes in the wake of a 'sexting' scandal, which involved him sending inappropriate texts to a female co-worker in 2017.

"Would love to see him play again, for both his state and for Australia," Hockley told SEN.

"We want to see him back out there, playing and performing, as quickly as possible."

Paine, who turned 37 on Wednesday (December 8), was handed the reins of Australian cricket at a time when the image of the game was in jeopardy following the ball-tampering scandal that happened in Cape Town in 2018.

Following Paine's decision to quit, there were speculations that he might never play for Australia again as the wicketkeeper-batter was expected to retire at the end of this summer.

The CA had appointed pacer Pat Cummins as the new Australia captain after Paine took the break. Cummins made his captaincy debut a memorable one taking five wickets against England in the on-going first Ashes Test a the Gabba.

Cricket Australia also received a lot of flak for the way it handled the issue with Cricket Tasmania chair Andrew Gaggin calling it "appalling" and "the worst since Bill Lawry over 50 years ago."

Hockley said it was Paine's call to quit as captain and "that was a decision that the board felt was appropriate" and it was trying to support him.

"The head coach has been down to see him, we've had members of our high performance set up go down to Tassie.

The Tasmanian cricket community have put their arms around him," said Hockley, who was appointed chief executive on an interim basis in 2020 before being made permanent a year later.

"We are all very, very concerned - to make sure that Tim is well supported. A lot of respect for Tim for owning his mistake and our job now is to really support him.”

Hockley confirms D/N Test

Hockley also confirmed that the fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia will be contested under lights.

Hockley's comments came as the fifth Ashes Test has been moved out of Perth due to COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions.

"We've had lots of interest, I won't go into specifics because we're going through all the details now but as I said, we're working to come to a position as quickly as possible. Hopefully, there will be an announcement in the not-too-distant future," Hockley told SEN Test Cricket.

"We've tried to be fair to everyone, we've given everyone an opportunity, we'll be taking in a range of considerations, and ultimately it's my job to put a recommendation to the board.

“The plan is, wherever it's played, to be a day-night Test with a pink ball," he added.

Cricket Australia (CA) on Monday had confirmed that the fifth men's Ashes Test match will be relocated from Perth Stadium due to COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.