Test captain Tim Paine has a six-week recovery after surgeons cut a hole in his throat

Surgeons had to move Test captain Tim Paine’s voice box to one side in a seriously invasive surgery. So what are his chances of playing The Ashes?

Tim Paine is set to have surgery on his spinal column. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty

Test captain Tim Paine believes he could be ready for cricket in seven weeks and be ready for the Ashes after successful surgery on a bulging disc this week left him feeling “pretty sore”.

Surgeons cut a hole in his throat to fix a bulging disc high up his spine, close to his neck, which had been leaving him with severe pain down his left side.

But Paine chatted to former NRL and Wallabies star Matt Rogers and recently retired Melbourne AFL captain Nathan Jones, who both had similar surgeries.

Rogers was back playing in the NRL within six weeks, a timeline that gave Paine confidence he would be ready for the first Ashes Test scheduled to begin on December 8.

“Matt Rogers played an NRL game in six weeks. Nathan Jones had it done after his last round game and started training fully day one of pre-season,” Paine said on Friday morning.

“The precedent has been set, guys have got back from it reasonably quickly. We’ve been talking to all those players, their physios, their surgeons to track their rehab plans and get me back as quick as we can.

Australia's captain Tim Paine has undergone surgery

“As soon as this six-week block is over I’ll be good to go. I’m pretty confident outside of that six weeks I’ll be ready to go within a week. That gives me plenty of time (for the Ashes). I won’t be as fit or as strong as I’d like to be. If I am moving freely, I’ll give a good fist of it.”

Paine said his surgeon told him it was the right call to have the surgery, not just to be fit for the Ashes but for his long-term health

“I had the bugling disc pressing on my spine, I was shaving some pain down the left side of my body,” he told SEN.

“It was that touch-and-go stage, where I don’t get it done and take the risk I’ll be right for the Ashes or get it done now and make sure I am.

“I’m pretty happy with the decision. After the surgeon had a look in there, he said it was a good decision to get it done.

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Paine said surgeons “cut a big hole in my throat” before replacing the C6 and C7 discs high up in the neck.

“They move my voice box to the side and go in that way. It’s less invasive, safer,” he said.

“They put the new disc in, stitched them up and away we go. I feel like my range is already better and I just have to not make sure the cut heals and give the disc time to take to my spine over the next month or so, then get moving.

“The most important thing in the first two week is the healing itself. I need it to take with the bone that is there.

“It’s a slow process, I’ll be walking over the next couple of weeks, doing a lot of little neck physio movements. It’s a see how we go from there.

“I know I will be dealing with physios for the next six weeks before I start my cricket rehab.

“I want to keep playing for Tasmania after my international career. To have it fixed and out of the way was the correct decision long term.”

LEGEND’S WARNING

Fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath has urged Australia not to overburden Pat Cummins with the Test captaincy if Tim Paine is injured, believing Steve Smith is the obvious choice.

It is understood Australia is leaning towards endorsing Cummins as its next Test captain even though no specialist Australian fast man has led the team since Ray Lindwall did it on a one-off basis against India in 1956-57.

Paine underwent neck surgery this week and while he is expected to be fit for the first Test at the Gabba in November, his fitness scare has placed the onus on Australia to have a back-up plan.

Speaking with the gravitas of his 563-wicket Test career on Fox Cricket’s Road To The Ashes podcast, McGrath said Cummins was “next in line’’ but he would go for Smith.

“Pat Cummins has been around for a long time and knows the game so well,’’ McGrath said.

“I have a theory that fast bowlers obviously can be captain – they are probably the most intelligent players in the team – but when a batsman is batting he can concentrate solely on his batting.

“A bowler has to think about who is bowling at the other end, what changes are coming up and where the game is heading.

“I just think the workload is probably a little bit… you want him (Cummins) concentrating 100 per cent on his bowling. That is why I think it should be a batsman … to give them something to do while they are in the field.

“Steve Smith should be captain again. To me he is the obvious choice on merit.’’

Smith was banned from the captaincy for two years after the ball tampering scandal in South Africa and CA fears a public backlash if he is reinstated.

Also speaking on the podcast, former English fast bowler Darren Gough said he did not expect Australia would go for Cummins but felt that batting captains were often over-rated.

“Pat Cummins seems a great bloke to me and someone who knows what he is talking about,’’ Gough said.

“I would have no problems if he was captaining Australia, especially against England.

“For some reasons batsmen have this aura about them where they are the really intelligent private schoolboys. They have got to captain the side and lead from the front. But I think they are more complicated than bowlers. They really complicate things.

“One of the things about fast bowlers is we get pigeon holed but I actually think we have got great cricket brains. We have a lot to offer within a dressing room and on the field as well.

“You look at batsmen. They are the captains, coaches and commentators. What is it about batsmen doing absolutely everything?’’

Pat Cummins is another strong candidate to take charge of the Australian cricket team. Picture: Getty

SKIPPER ACCUSED OF ‘MISTREATING’ AFGHAN CRICKET

By Peter Lalor

Test captain Tim Paine is in a race against time to be fit for the Ashes as he faces surgery on a chronic neck injury.

The Australian understands a decision was made to operate on the 36-year-old early this week to give him the best chance of recovery.

Paine has been unable to train for six weeks and is reportedly in major discomfort. It had been hoped that rest and treatment would fix the problem, but it is getting worse not better.

The Australian captain has a bone spur in his spinal column that must be operated on. It is restricting his movement and has kept him from any training.

Former rugby and rugby league player Matt Rogers had similar surgery in 2006 and Melbourne Demons AFL player Nathan Jones underwent the procedure in 2016.

Both made full recoveries and reported a new lease of life after the procedure.

Tim Paine is set to have surgery on his spinal column. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty

Doctors are hopeful Paine will be training within a month and will be fit to play in two weeks, leaving him four weeks to prepare for 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.”

Paine has played 35 Tests after making a late-career return to the team, but the back end of his career has been frustrated by Australia’s absence from the Test arena.

Australia has played just four Tests since the 2019 Ashes, where England has played 20 in the past 18 months.

If Paine was playing for England in the past two years he would have had the opportunity to play his 50th Test by now.

The Australians look set to drop the Afghanistan Test from this summer’s calendar, robbing him of another opportunity.

Australian captain Tim Paine. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Meanwhile, Paine is in hot water with Afghanistan players, who took offence at his suggestion some countries or individuals might look to boycott playing them in the World Cup over the Taliban’s apparent decision to ban women’s cricket.

Former Afghanistan captain Ashgar Afghan released an open letter to the Australian captain.

“It requires too much of hard work and dedication to reach this level of cricket. For a less privileged cricketing nation as Afghanistan with zero infrastructure and support, reaching where we are right now and playing shoulder to shoulder with top 10 countries requires sheer determination, passion, and talent,” Aghan said in the letter.

“Therefore, you should refrain from delivering aggressive statements which would result in isolating the Afghan cricket.”

He claimed cricket was the No.1 sport in his country and followed by nearly 30 million people.

“This shows, either you are unaware of the circumstances or talking out of contradiction; in any case, you are mistreating Afghan cricket and all the gains we have obtained with hardship in the past decade.”

Paine spoke about Afghanistan on his SEN radio program.

“I don’t think we want to be associated with countries that are taking opportunities or things off literally half their population,” Paine said.

“We’ve heard nothing from the ICC, which is fascinating given there is a T20 World Cup in just over a month’s time. I’d imagine it’s impossible (for Afghanistan to take part) if teams are pulling out of playing against them and governments are not letting them travel to our shores.

“How a team like that can be allowed to play in an ICC-sanctioned event is going to be very, very hard to see.”

The ICC had a meeting scheduled for midway through the World Cup, but there is talk it is being brought forward to discuss the issue.

Originally published as Test captain Tim Paine has a six-week recovery after surgeons cut a hole in his throat