Tim Paine's Ashes preparations will take a step up on Friday with the former Test captain to line-up for Tasmania's in its one-day cup match against Western Australia.
It will be the 36-year-old's second outing since returning from neck surgery following this week's second XI clash with South Australia.
The wicketkeeper stood down as Test captain last week after a lewd text message exchange with a former Cricket Tasmania employee in 2017 was revealed.
"There's been overwhelming support throughout the business and across our squad," interim head coach Ali de Winter said on Thursday.
"It's been obviously challenging for all of us, knowing how much we care for Painey and for his family's welfare.
"I've known Tim since he was 13 years old so we go back quite a long way. Making sure that he's okay in all of this - the cricket bit is secondary in all of this and his own health through all this is first and foremost.
"He's obviously having some deep challenges but I think having good people around him and his cricket mates is the best tonic he can have outside his family.
"[But we're] preparing him to play for Test cricket so he needed to play this week."
The Tigers enter Friday's clash against a Western Australian side they have beaten three times this season, including this week's Shield clash, with de Winter saying it was a "wonderful for the players to finish the first part of the Shield campaign with a win".
Friday's 50-over contest at Blundstone Arena will start at 2.35pm.
SQUAD
- Tom Andrews, Tim David, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Mitch Owen, Tim Paine, Sam Rainbird, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk (c), Mac Wright.
Alex Fair
Deputy Editor of The Advocate on the North-West Coast of Tasmania.
Deputy Editor of The Advocate on the North-West Coast of Tasmania.
