Upset and in tears, Tim Paine stepped down as Australia’s Test cricket captain on Friday after it was revealed he had been investigated and clarified over sexually explicit text messages sent to a female former colleague four years ago. had gone.
The development has impacted Australia’s preparations for the Ashes, three weeks ahead of the first Test starting in Brisbane on December 8.
Crying while reading a statement in Hobart, Paine said he had been acquitted by the Cricket Australia Integrity Unit’s investigation, but that his actions did not meet the standards of the Australian cricket captain or the wider community.
Paine, who married wife Bonnie in 2016 and has children with them, said, “I am deeply sorry for the hurt and pain caused to my wife, my family and the other party.”
“I am sorry for any damage this damages the reputation of our sport and I believe it is the right decision to stand down as captain, effective immediately.
“I don’t want this to become an unwanted disruption for the team ahead of a big Ashes series.”
Shortly before Penn’s entry, Melbourne’s listen to the herald The newspaper reported that the Tasmanian sent an obscene message and an explicit picture to the aide four months before he was appointed Test captain in Newlands’s wake. ball tampering scandal in 2018.
The report said there was an employee of Women’s Cricket Tasmania, who resigned in 2017 and later complained to the state’s governing body and Cricket Australia.
“We felt this event was behind us and I could focus solely on the team, as I have done for the last three or four years,” Penn said.
“However, I recently learned that this private text exchange is going to go public.”
Cricket Tasmania said the woman had not made her allegations against Paine until the theft charge was made in mid-2018.
Cricket Tasmania president Andrew Gagin said in a statement that the investigation found Paine’s “conversations” with the woman were “consensual, private, on only one occasion, between mature adults and were not repeated.”
Gagin said criminal charges against the former employee are still pending and it would be inappropriate to comment further as the matter was before the courts.
After Steve Smith stepped down from his post, the 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman became the second Australian captain in succession to lose his job amid the scandal. Partnerships In a ball-tampering controversy during the Test series in South Africa.
Paine resigned as captain after 23 Tests with 11 wins, eight losses and four draws.
He said that he would still make himself available for selection.
Ahead of the five-Test Ashes series, vice-captain Pat Cummins will replace Paine as the captain.
Cummins became the first specialist fast bowler to play the role since he led Australia under Ray Lindwall in a Test against India in the mid-1950s.
Cricket Australia (CA) said it has accepted Paine’s resignation and will announce a captain soon.
CA President Richard Freudenstein said in a statement, “While the board acknowledged that an investigation a few years ago cleared Tim of any breach of the Code of Conduct in relation to this case, we respect his decision.” Huh.” We do.”
“CA does not condone this type of language or behavior.”