Tim Paine to mentor Australian Under-19 players

Australian Test captain Tim Paine, who recently undertook high-performance (level-three) coaching certification with a view to assuming a mentoring role in his post-playing career, will be mentoring next year's Under-19 World Cup squad. The players are taking part in the Northern Territory's Cricket 365 program and Paine will be part of the three-member coaching panel overseeing a Cricket Australia XI in three one-day games against a representative NT side in Darwin next month.

The CA XI squad has the likes of Chris Tremain, Jack Edwards, and Jason Sangha as well as Western Australia quick Liam Guthrie apart from a host of U-19 World Cup aspirants. As the Under-19 training camp at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane was cancelled at the last minute last year, these matches in NT are seen as the practice ground for the next year's U-19 World Cup in West Indies.

Paine will join the CA XI squad to be managed by National Performance Coach Troy Cooley, with the NT Strike team will be playing under the stewardship of veteran mentor Greg Shipperd for the final two games of the three-match series that starts on Sunday.

"We know Paine's got a keen interest in talent identification and talent management," Cricket Australia's National Talent and Pathways Manager Graham Manou told cricket.com.au.

"He's obviously thinking about his future beyond playing days, and it's nice that we've got the opportunity to be able to support him in that. He's undertaken his level-three, or high-performance coach accreditation so he's starting that process.

"It gives him a chance to see what's happening and learn a little bit from some of the other coaches who will be involved in Darwin. And it also means he can continue to impart some of those behaviours and values the Australian team are wanting, from not only their current players but future players as well."