Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Tim Paine resigns as Australia Test captain: Twitter reactions | Tim Paine resigns as Test captain due to sexting scandal
In a shock just weeks out from the Ashes, Tim Paine has stood down as Australia Test captain due to a sexting scandal that took place with a former colleague back in 2017.
In 2018, when Tim Paine was made the captain of the Australian Test side following the sandpaper gate, those at CA hoped he would serve as skipper and end with his head held high. But what happened on 19th November no one really saw coming and everyone was absolutely dumbfounded when reports started circulating that Tim Paine had decided to step down from the captaincy amids sexting scandal back in 2017.
Tim Paine announces resignation via press conference
Around 2:30pm Hobart time, Tim Paine walked into a press conference to announce exactly the same. An emotional Paine read out a statement and gave up his skipper status but expressed his desire to keep playing for Australia.
“Today, I’m announcing my decision to stand down as the captain of the Australian men’s Test team. It’s an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket.”
He also added that Cricket Tasmania had conducted an investigation of their own in 2017 and he had been exonerated.
“As a background on my decision, nearly four years ago, I was involved in a text exchange with a then-colleague. At the time, the exchange was the subject of a thorough CA Integrity Unit investigation, throughout which I fully participated in and openly participated in.”
When we dive further into what actually transpired in 2017, we get a much clear picture of the entire scandal. Cricket Tasmania put out a statement immediately after the press conference. According to the Cricket Tasmania statement this morning, the allegations against the former skipper were raised by a former employee within the organization when formal theft charges were laid against that said employee.
Cricket Tasmania Chairman, Andrew Gaggin in the press release, said “As soon as Cricket Tasmania was made aware, it undertook an investigation that determined the interaction was consensual, private, occurred on the one occasion only, was between mature adults and was not repeated”
Tim Paine got married in 2016 and has deeply apologized to his wife, family and also the wider cricketing community for his actions. Although the exchange was consensual, Cricket Tasmania has stated that it does not condone this type of behaviour and hence directly addressed the matter with Paine himself in 2017.
“However, I recently became aware that this private text exchange was going to become public. On reflection, my actions in 2017 do not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain, or the wider community. I’m deeply sorry for the hurt and pain that I have caused to my wife, my family, and to the other party. I’m sorry for any damage that this does to the reputation of our sport,” said Paine.
Tim Paine ended his press conference by saying he will remain part of the team. “I will remain a committed member of the Australian cricket team and look forward with anticipation to what is a huge Ashes tour.”
He made it clear that he wasn’t taking questions. But the questions will start looming in the minds of the fans and followers as to who takes over the captaincy and whether Tim Paine stays in the playing XI if not the skipper.
Paine hasn’t played First Class cricket since April, and without the leadership string to his bow, attention quickly comes back to what is a crowded field of wicketkeeper-batters Australia has available for selection.
Australia A captain Alex Carey and WA gloveman Josh Inglis, who was in Australia’s World Cup winning squad and was also picked in this week’s Australia A side, loom as the two most likely to push for a Baggy Green.
