Tim Paine's playing career could be over after omission from Tasmania squad

The former Australia Test captain has not been retained as a member of the playing staff for next year, and at the age of 37 it seems unlikely he will find a route back into the elite level of the sport.

Tim Paine's professional playing career appears to be over after the former Australia captain was cut from Tasmania's contract list.

Paine, who left his role with the Australian Test team before the Ashes following the emergence of details of a sexting incident from several years previously, was involved with the state in an unofficial coaching capacity towards the end of the 2021/22 domestic season.

However, he has not been retained as a member of the playing staff for next year, and at the age of 37 it seems unlikely he will find a route back into the elite level of the sport.

^{Tim Paine has been left off Tasmania's squad list for 2022/23 [Getty Images]}

It would represent a strange and mute end to a career which included 35 Test caps and 82 appearances for his country across all formats.

Paine assumed the captaincy of the national red-ball team in the wake of the Sandpapergate scandal, and was credited for helping rehabilitate the reputation of the Australian side. 

He secured an Ashes series draw, and retention of the urn, in England in 2019, but won fewer than half (11) of the 23 matches in which he was captain.