A right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper, he played for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket and was the captain of the Hobart Hurricanes before his selection for Australia in the 2017–18 Ashes series.

From that time – including almost two full seasons lost to injury – he was not a regular in the Australian cricket side from April 2011 until his recall for the 2017–18 Ashes series.

Paine stepped down as Australia's Test captain in November 2021 due to an occasion of improper conduct off the field during 2017 in which he sent explicit messages to a female co-worker.

We used to have a cricket pitch in our backyard which was the driveway and the next-door neighbours had a turf wicket which the boys used to roll and mow and do all that sort of stuff.

"[5] In December 2003, he was announced captain of the Australian Under-19 team for the 2004 U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, played in February and March 2004.

[9] Paine made his Tasmanian debut as solely an opening batsman in November 2005, during an ING Cup one-day match against Western Australia in Perth, scoring 28 from 44 balls.

[7] The following season his made his maiden first-class century with 215 against Western Australia in a Pura Cup match at Perth in October 2006.

[7] He continued with one-day performances in the following season in which Tasmania won the Ford Ranger Cup, aggregating 261 runs and collecting 21 dismissals.

Playing at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, Paine scored 134 off 136 balls in the third one-day match to secure a series win for the Australian 'A' side.

[18][19] Paine made his International Twenty20 (T20) debut against England on 30 August 2009 at Old Trafford, ahead of the upcoming seven match ODI series between the two teams.

Australia batted first, with Paine run out in the third over for a duck, scored from six balls; however, he collected two dismissals and a run-out, in England's four-run defeat.

[26][27][28] His performances steadily improved, with 26, 29, 51 and 16 respectively,[29] before scoring his maiden ODI century in the sixth match of the series at Trent Bridge .

[30] After losing the final ODI in England, Australia won the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

[33] On return from injury, Paine was Tasmania's leading run-scorer for the 2009–10 domestic Twenty20 tournament, hitting 166 runs at 33.20 while opening the batting.

[35] Tasmanian came off the bottom of the ladder after winning their last three one-day matches to qualify for the 2009–10 Ford Ranger Cup Final against Victoria.

[39] He made his debut in the First Test at Lord's, London, and scored 7 and 47 with the bat; later admitting that the first 30 balls he faced in the first innings were a blur.

The match was the first occasion where three Tasmanians played in the same Test side—Ricky Ponting, Ben Hilfenhaus and Paine—marking significant improvement in the quality of cricket in the state.

In a drawn three-day first-class match before the Test series, Paine scored a slow 45 and zero; failing to capitalise on his promotion to four in the batting order for the second innings.

In hot conditions, he displayed good shot selection and concentration, despite suffering from cramp in the latter stages of his innings.

Paine resumed his commitments with an in-form Tasmanian outfit in late-October, after Haddin—returning from injury—replaced him in the Australian side for three one-day games against Sri Lanka where they lost 2–1.

He then captained Australia A in Zimbabwe,[53] but in August 2011 re-injured his finger at state training[54][55] This paved the way for Matthew Wade to become Australian wicketkeeper.

[57] He toured England with Australia A in the northern summer of 2012,[58] and returned to Tasmanian state cricket and the Hobart Hurricanes for the 2012–13 season.

[59] Paine has concentrated more on his batting than on wicket-keeping over the last couple of years, and with the return of Wade to Tasmania, is more often than not playing as a batsman.

In August 2017, he was named in a World XI side to play three Twenty20 International matches against Pakistan in the 2017 Independence Cup in Lahore.

[64] As a result of an urgent Cricket Australia investigation into the incident, Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were suspended and sent home.

[87] On 19 November 2021, Paine announced that he had stepped down as Australia's Test captain,[88][89] due to an occasion of improper conduct off the field during 2017[90] in which he sent explicit messages, and an image of his genitals to a female co-worker.

[94] His wife Bonnie commented that she had felt "betrayed" and "hurt" after learning about the incident but had since forgiven him and that they had "put the matter to bed".

[97] On 17 March 2023, Paine announced his retirement from cricket after Tasmania drew with Queensland after the end of the Sheffield Shield.

Paine uses his wrists and prefers to bat from the crease against spin, though he can play a wide range of shots against all forms of bowling.

[102] He admitted attempting to change his batting style to something similar to former Australian wicketkeepers Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin before his international debut.