Paine happy to be back to his best

Sydney -  Tim Paine has said a successful comeback for Australia A in England will help him to start the domestic season in career-best form with the gloves.

Paine's batting was decent, he averaged 34 and made one half-century, but his wicketkeeping was more encouraging, claiming 13 catches and two stumpings across the four matches on  England tour.

Having left for England a month ago with self-doubt after his yearlong break, his previous comeback attempt was thwarted by a recurrence of a finger injury, the highly rated Tasmanian said

he was buoyed by the manner of his return, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"I'm definitely coming back very happy with the way I kept. By the [England] Lions game, I was probably back to as well as I can remember keeping ... I was right on top of it, right back from  where I left. I'm now coming back to start the year for Tasmania in as good a place as I've been in my career before," he said.

Paine's finger is not entirely free of pain, but he insisted it was no longer at a level that either hindered him with bat or gloves or prevented him from playing altogether.

He said he and his Australia A teammates were disappointed not to have notched a win but insisted the goal of exposing second-tier players to English conditions ahead of next year's Ashes  series had been successful.

Australia A's leading run-scorer for the tour was captain Ed Cowan, who scored 366 runs at an average of 61, including a century and a 99.