Australia wicketkeeper Tim Paine will have plenty of familiar faces cheering him on when he makes his Test debut against Pakistan at Lord's on Tuesday.
Australia wicketkeeper Tim Paine will have plenty of familiar faces cheering him on when he makes his Test debut against Pakistan at Lord's on Tuesday.
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The 25-year-old Tasmanian is set to make his bow in the five-day format after Australia first choice wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was ruled out with an elbow tendon problem.
Paine, who has in 23 one-day internationals and three Twenty20s behind him, has already played in a couple of matches at Lord's during this tour, most recently during Australia's 42-run ODI win against England last weekend, and cannot wait to return to the 'home of cricket'.
"It's going to be pretty special being at Lord's and some of my family are flying over for it so it's going to be a very enjoyable day," Paine said.
"It will be very nerve-wracking as well but I'm looking forward to it.
"My nan (grandmother) is coming over as well, she's come to my cricket games since I was 10 - she used to bring lunch - and we've managed to get her over here so that's going to be great."
Paine was speaking after a mixed day behind the stumps on the final day of Australia's drawn two-day warm-up match against Derbyshire here on Friday.
He dropped a regulation catch amd missed a stumping although he did hold a chance offered by Derbyshire captain Chris Rogers that saw the former Australia batsman dismissed for 93.
Nevertheless Paine insisted: "I'm definitely ready."
The slope at Lord's and the amount the ball tends to swing after going past the stumps at many grounds in England can both combine to make life tough for keepers at the north-west London ground.
However, Paine believes his previous experience will stand him in good stead during the first of a two-Test series that concludes at Headingley, Yorkshire's headquarters in Leeds, northern England.
"I'm trying not to read too much into it. As long as I'm watching the ball and I'm nice and relaxed, even if the ball swings or dips I'll catch it whatever it does," he said.
"To be honest I've enjoyed keeping at Lord's in one-day cricket so I can't see why it will be any different this time."
Some members of the Australia Test squad were not involved in the one-dayers against England or this week's two Twenty20 defeats by Pakistan at Edgbaston.
But Paine insisted lack of preparation was not an issue.
"It wouldn't have just been these two days," he said. "The blokes would have been doing a lot of work in Australia as well and the guys have been over here on the one-day tour so there's been a lot more work gone into it than these last two days."
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