Oz keeper Tim Paine to resume training next week

Hobart (Australia), Feb.23 (ANI): Injured Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine is expected to resume training, having recovered from a fractured finger that he first sustained in November 2010.

Paine still shakes his head over the fact that a delivery from Victorian fast bowler Dirk Nannes snapped his finger in a game that meant very little - a pre-season All-Stars exhibition game.

But five surgeries and 15 months after first copping the nasty blow, Paine has been cleared to resume training next week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

He believes that his enforced break will make him a better player for both Tasmania and Australia.

The landscape changed dramatically while Paine was sidelined.

Veteran Brad Haddin has a question mark over his Test future after being replaced in the one-day and Twenty20 formats by Paine's childhood friend Matt Wade.

At one stage, Paine was considered a future Test captain.He has since become Australian cricket's forgotten man.

"That's bound to happen. You can't miss 15 months of cricket and expect to be where you were," said Paine, who has played four Tests and 26 ODIs. (ANI)