Once again cricket has granted Tim Paine an unexpected opportunity.
Admitting his Adelaide Strikers appointment has come quicker than he expected, the former Australian Test captain is about to make his BBL coaching debut.
The 39-year-old has no doubt his former coaches will be looking on with amusement, given he's never been short of thoughts about how the game should be played.
Speaking after Sunday's BBL draft in Melbourne, Paine also confirmed he is ambitious about where his new role in the game might take him.
"I don't want to over-share what I want to do, but when I played I was the same - I wanted to play at the highest level," Paine told AAP.
"I want to coach at the highest level I can, where that is I'm not sure - if it's in leagues or Shield cricket eventually, or who knows how high I can go.
"But to be given this opportunity, this early, I'm obviously rapt.
"I'm sure coaches I've played under would tell you, I've had a lot of ideas. I think they'd have a bit of a chuckle now - 'good Painey, you can go out and show us if you can do it'."
In 2018, Australian cricket's Sandpapergate controversy meant Paine unexpectedly took over from Steve Smith as Test captain.
It was a role the wicketkeeper relished, until just as abruptly he stood down in late 2021 because of explicit texts sent to a co-worker.
Paine never appeared for Australia again and retired from playing last year.
Since then he has made a rapid progression through coaching, serving as an assistant to Jason Gillespie last season at the Strikers.
Gillespie took the top job at Pakistan, creating the opportunity for Paine to make his elite senior coaching debut.
"I'm looking forward to putting some ideas I've had in my head for a long time into action, which is going to be exciting. It's going to be a challenge," Paine said.
The Strikers retained English allrounder Jamie Overton in the draft, as well as West Indian Fabian Allen, while Overton's Surrey teammate Ollie Pope was their pre-draft signing.
Paine is bullish after Adelaide finished fourth last season.
"I'm just excited. We've finished off our squad really nicely with the skill sets that we wanted," he said.
"We have all bases covered for the style of cricket we want to play. We have a team that can compete and hopefully win it."
