Tim Paine, the Australian skipper, has revealed that he sustained a thumb injury in The Oval Test of the Ashes series while Peter Siddle suffered a hip injury during the course of the Test, reports cricbuzz.
However, Cricket Australia's medical staff is reportedly not too worried about Paine's injury and the wicketkeeper-batsman is set to be back at training shortly. Paine has been troubled by finger injuries for a long time now. In the All Stars T20 game in November 2010, he suffered a fatal injury on his right index finger.
Since then, he has gone through seven surgeries, with bone taken from his wrist and also the hip to fix the finger problem. "There's a bit of recovery to be done," Paine said in his column for the Australian. "My thumb was broken towards the end of that Test but it is not displaced, so I should be right to get back into training early."
Paine also noted that he would mainly concentrate on red-ball cricket and won't take part in the BBL, in order to focus his energies on leading the Test side.
"I'm keen to see just how far we can take this team and I've decided to give up the BBL so I can concentrate on red-ball cricket and being in the best place to lead them," he observed. "Being captain is draining and I think I should take every chance to recharge my batteries. I'll go back to the BBL when I'm finished, but for now my focus is on my main job."
Paine also heaped praise on Siddle for playing through a hip injury in the The Oval Test. The pacer, who was selected over the likes of James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc, wasn't his usual self, struggling for control.
"Peter Siddle tore a hip flexor bowling on the first morning. He has copped a bit of criticism for not bowling as well as he we know he can, but the team knows just how heroic he was. A lot of other people wouldn't have bowled again in the match, but he pushed on because he didn't want to leave Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to do extra work. He's a warrior, Sidds, and we love him deeply for that."
Australia's next Test is against Pakistan at the Gabba, starting on November 21.
