Tim Paine Opens Up On The Mental Trauma He Faced After A Career-Threatening Injury In 2010

Tim Paine, the current Australian Test captain, recently went down memory lane and reminisced about the ‘career-threatening’ injury that he suffered in 2010, adding that he would spend days on the couch ‘crying’ and hating cricket before a meeting with a sports psychologist helped him get out of the trauma.

Paine, who made his debut in the same year, suffered a nasty injury during a charity game when he was struck on his right index finger by a Dirk Nannes delivery.

The injury required the current Aussie captain to undergo seven surgeries, involving eight pins, a metal plate, and a piece of hip bone besides ruling him out for two seasons.

“When I started training and playing again I wasn’t too bad, until I started to face guys who bowled a bit quicker. And they’d be running in and instead of thinking about hitting the ball, I was thinking: ‘Geez I hope he doesn’t hit me on the finger’,” Tim Paine said on ‘Bounce Back’ podcast.

“From there it was just a downward spiral. I lost absolutely all confidence. I didn’t tell anyone about it. The truth is, one, I was scared of getting hit and two, I just didn’t know what I was going to do,” he added.

“I was embarrassed at what I had become”- Tim Paine

“>Tim Paine revealed that the injury had a psychological effect on him and it also affected his personal life.

“I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat. I was so nervous before games, I’d have no energy. I was horrible to live with. I was pretty ordinary to my partner, who is now my wife. I was always angry and took out that I wasn’t doing well on other people,” Tim Paine revealed.

“I was embarrassed at what I had become. I love training for cricket, and I love watching cricket. But when it came to my part in the game I just hated it. I would rather be anywhere else in the world because I was convinced I was going to fail,” Paine said.

“No one knew I was struggling, not my mates, not my partner. There were times when she was at work and I’d sit on the couch crying. It was weird and it was painful.” he reminisced.

Paine revealed that the turning point when he approached sports psychologist at Cricket Tasmania.

“I sat with her for maybe only 20 minutes that first time and I remember walking out of that room and instantly feeling better, that I had let someone in,” Tim Paine revealed.
“And, in the end, the first step to dealing with it was admitting that I needed help. It still took six (more) months, but I remember walking out of that room and feeling instantly better.” he added.

The Australian red-ball skipper said that he shared his experience with the younger players in the side in a bid to open up a space for discussions on issues concerning mental health.

<“I wish I had sought help earlier. I was taught to just get on with it. But I now try and share with younger players that you need people to talk too and share,” Paine added.

“The stigma of not talking and men being big and brave and tough, we’ve been able to spin it a bit and say, it’s actually braver to speak up; it’s braver to share things,” he added.Paine was selected in the Test team for the 2017-18 Ashes series, but admitted he struggled with negative thoughts before embracing the sport he loves,” he concluded.