Tim Paine almost joined Essendon, moved to Victoria weeks before Test cricket comeback

Tim Paine was on the cusp of leaving Tasmania and taking on a full-time job away from the cricket field when his Test revival started. This is the inside story of what happened.

The Tim Paine story could have been very different.

In 2017, just before Paine reignited his international career with selection in a T20 series against Sri Lanka, clubs in Victoria were growing in confidence he was bound for a move across Bass Strait.

The whispers spread like wildfire.

One of Australia’s most accomplished glovemen was considering his future after being offered a one-year contract to stay in Tasmania.

There was a job waiting for Paine at cricket manufacturer Kookaburra in Melbourne and almost every Victorian club was working the phones to try to secure his services.

“It was before I got back in the Test team,” Paine said.

“I was going to come over and work for Kookaburra and play some grade cricket.

“I was certainly chatting to a few people. But funnily enough about two weeks later I was picked in the Test team.”

Tim Paine celebrates a catch during his return to the Test side at the Gabba in 2017.

----------

Simon Tobin remembers it well.

The long-time Essendon Cricket Club president – who is approaching two decades in the top job at Windy Hill – travelled to England in 2019 to take in the Ashes.

At Lord’s, Tobin talked his way into the prestigious members’ area because he knew the uncle of one of Australia’s players – Robert Shaw.

The former Fitzroy and Adelaide AFL coach was in the crowd too, watching his nephew Paine pouch six catches in a match which Australia held on grimly to draw.

(L-R) Essendon Cricket Club president Simon Tobin and former coach Mitch Johnstone at Windy Hill. Picture: Josie Hayden

Shaw was Essendon’s chairman of selectors when Paine was weighing up his next move, putting the Bombers at the front of the queue.

“We had two or three discussions and swapped a few messages about how it would all look,” Tobin said.

“I always knew there was a pull there because he’s quite close with his uncle and I think he was always an Essendon football supporter as well. Windy Hill had a bit of a lure for him.

“And we were a pretty strong team in those days as well. We were certainly finalists.

“(Paine) was very clear. He had to have some final discussions with Cricket Tassie … but within the 4-6 week period we were dealing with him, Cricket Tasmania did make some changes.”

Paine arrives at Old Trafford with an Essendon scarf in 2019.

Paine with Robert Shaw after his uncle was named football manager at Fremantle.

Paine once told Essendon Football Club’s Working Through It podcast: “When (Shaw) was an Essendon player, my mum, my sister, my nan and all my family were always Essendon people.

“They still are. There aren’t too many Paine or Shaw household dinners where we’re not talking about the Essendon Football Club. It’s become a big part of our lives.”

Despite the romance of a move to Essendon, Paine eventually reconciled with Cricket Tasmania and inked a new deal not long before being recalled for his first Test match in seven years.

Paine shows off his football skills during a warm up.

He replaced Matthew Wade behind the stumps despite the Test incumbent taking the gloves for Tasmania in a Shield game in mid-November which Paine also featured in.

It marked an incredible career renaissance.

Weeks after he was playing for Tasmania’s Second XI and considering a state switch, Paine played his first Test since October, 2010.

“(I was going to) play club cricket and work for Kookaburra and then next thing I was ringing up Kookaburra to get some gear sent up to Brisbane for the first Test. It was a good turnaround,” Paine said.

------------

Tobin believes Paine was 2-3 weeks from locking in a move to Victoria when changes at Cricket Tasmania prompted him to re-sign.

As far as the Bombers were concerned, Paine’s decision was down to whether he would be playing for them or rivals Carlton in Victorian Premier Cricket.

Paine would have joined an Essendon team which was flush with talent and led by former Australian bowler Clint McKay.

Clint McKay was one of Essendon’s stars at the time Paine was considering his future.

Paine eventually re-signed at Tasmania.

Future state batter James Seymour, former ACT keeper Aaron Ayre, ex-domestic run scorer Michael Hill and Victorian rookie Louis Cameron also donned the red and black.

“We thought it was more likely than not, that’s for sure,” then Essendon coach Mitch Johnstone said.

“The fact it didn’t eventuate was probably less on the cards than him coming across and signing on the dotted line, for at least one of the two clubs that were in contention.

“We by no means had our hopes pinned on him, but certainly we thought we were in the box seat.”

Johnstone adds: “That was a really strong era for Essendon as well. It would have been good to pinch one.”

Paine said: “It didn’t really get to that stage (choosing a club). There was a number of clubs that had reached out.

Paine behind the stumps for Tasmania.

“But yeah, it didn’t get too far down the track because I sort of got wind of what was going on (in the Test team). It was an interesting time.

“But certainly Essendon, given family ties and my uncle speaking to me, were one that I was looking at, I remember that.”

Paine played 31 Tests from his unlikely return.

He was named as Australia’s 46th Test captain after Steve Smith relinquished the role during the sandpapergate saga in March, 2018.

Paine’s time in the Test side would also end in controversy, stepping down in November, 2021 after lewd text messages he sent to a colleague in 2017 were revealed.

The 40-year-old has since rebuilt his standing in the sport, taking charge of BBL club Adelaide Strikers and Australia A as coach.

----------

Tobin can’t help but wonder what if.

The Bombers have not won a First XI premiership since 1970 and Paine’s addition might have been the difference for a team which had been on the cusp of glory under Johnstone.

Instead of watching Paine’s sharp glovework from the historic stands at Windy Hill, Tobin had to travel to the other side of the globe to get a first-hand look.

“It all happened in five minutes – it was incredible,” Tobin said.

“I remember going to England in 2019 and he was captaining the team … it was an extraordinary rise by Tim.

Paine would have been a marquee recruit for the Bombers.

Instead he got back into the Test side and was captain less than a year later.

“To go from that position in February or March, 2017 to back in the Test team and captaining within 6-12 months and doing a terrific job too.

“I always thought over 2018, 19 and 20 as his career went from strength to strength and peaked what might have otherwise been.

“I’m pleased he ended up having such a wonderful international career … but I can’t help but think at the same time he would have done some damage for the Bombers at Windy Hill.”

Johnstone too can’t help but ruminate on what might have happened had the sliding doors moment gone Essendon’s way.

“I imagine had (Paine) taken the Kookaburra job, Wade had kept his spot, then he’s plugging away in Premier Cricket and being a salesman for Kookaburra,” he said.

“It would have been a great opportunity (for Essendon) but obviously for Tim, I’m sure he would much rather the path he went down.”