Injured Paine to fly home
Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine will fly home after being ruled out of the one-day series against India with a finger injury
Cricinfo staff
28-Oct-2009
Tim Paine is the latest Australian cricketer to pick up an injury • Getty Images
Australia had another addition to their already long list of injuries when their wicketkeeper Tim Paine was ruled out of the series with a finger injury. Australia expect to have a replacement for Paine, who will fly home, before the next ODI in Delhi on Saturday but they have not named his substitute. There are no other specialist wicketkeepers in the original squad.
"Paine has got a badly broken finger," Ricky Ponting said. "He will be going home pretty much straight away. We haven't been able to name a replacement because of the time difference in Australia at the moment. [The travelling selector] David Boon's been in touch with Andrew Hilditch and we'll be able to name somebody tomorrow morning. As to when Tim is flying out I am not sure.
"It's Thursday morning back home, and we should be able to get someone out by Thursday afternoon. If they do, they'll arrive in India the same day I expect."
Paine picked up the problem to a ring finger when trying to collect a bouncer from Peter Siddle in the eighth over of the 99-run defeat to India in the second ODI. The physio tended to him at the end of that over, after which he managed to keep wickets through the innings. He then opened the innings, cobbling together a 14-ball 8 before being bowled by Praveen Kumar.
Australia were already without the services of their premier limited-overs fast bowler Brett Lee and allrounder James Hopes for Wednesday's game in Nagpur. This was in addition to the loss of their highest ranked one-day bowler Nathan Bracken, middle-order batsman Michael Clarke and first-choice wicketkeeper Brad Haddin before the series to injuries.
Haddin has recovered from finger surgery that sidelined him since the Ashes loss in August, and will test his fitness for New South Wales against Western Australia in a one-day match on Sunday. "There will be a number of names thrown around," Ponting said. "I don't think there's an absolute standout replacement, to tell you the truth. The selectors will have to have a bit of a chat tomorrow morning."