Tim Paine failed with the bat on his return to first-class cricket as the former Australia captain made just six for Tasmania on Thursday in a Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland.

The 37-year-old wicketkeeper was playing in his first such match for 20 months, resuming a playing career that ground to a halt following a sexting scandal.

Paine stepped away from playing duties when details came to light of a historic investigation into a 2017 text message exchange between Paine and a female employee at Cricket Tasmania.

It meant he missed out on leading Australia into the 2021-22 Ashes series, resigning just weeks before the battle with England began. Paine's last first-class match had seen him represent Tasmania against Western Australia in April 2021.

A cheap dismissal on his comeback, caught by Matt Renshaw off paceman Gurinder Sandhu's bowling, saw Tasmania slip to 74-6 in their first innings, before recovering slightly to post 147 all out.

Paine took a catch in Queensland's reply, holding on to remove Renshaw and give Riley Meredith a wicket, as the home team at Allan Border Field reached 70-1 at stumps.