Anger Amongst Tasmanian Cricket Community Is Palpable - Cricket Tasmania Furious With Cricket Australia's Treatment Of Tim Paine

Cricket Tasmania expressed its anger over the ‘appalling’ treatment of former Aussie Test skipper, Tim Paine, by Cricket Australia (CA) following the revelation of a ‘sexting’ incident that occurred back in 2017.

Paine announced that he was resigning as the skipper during a press conference last Friday after CA investigated claims of a sexual harassment case against the 36-year-old. Paine sent lewd text messages and an explicit picture of himself to a colleague back at Cricket Tasmania in 2017, which resurfaced recently. Speaking about the events that followed, Cricket Tasmania Chairman Andrew Gaggin said:

“In conversations, I have had in recent days. It is clear that the anger amongst the Tasmanian cricket community and the general public is palpable. Tim Paine has been a beacon for Australian cricket over the past four years and instrumental in salvaging the reputation of the national team after the calamity of Cape Town.”

“Yet, at a time when CA should have supported Tim, he was evidently regarded as dispensable. The treatment afforded to the Australian Test captain by Cricket Australia has been appalling, and the worst since Bill Lawry over 50 years ago.”

“Cricket Tasmania will continue to support Tim Paine on and off the field” – Andrew Gaggin

In a statement released by Cricket Tasmania, full support was extended to the disgraced Tim Paine. The matter was actually resolved back in 2018 after Cricket Tasmania investigated the incident and exonerated Paine of breaching any code of conduct.

“The Cricket Tasmania Board reaffirmed its view that Paine should not have been put in a position where he felt the need to resign over an incident that was determined by an independent inquiry at the time to not be a breach of the Code of Conduct and was a consensual and private exchange that occurred between two mature adults and was not repeated.”

“Cricket Tasmania will continue to support Tim on and off the field, and is very pleased to see his impressive return in the Second XI game Tasmania is currently playing against South Australia,” Gaggin added.

The whole scandal adds to the growing list of controversies surrounding Australian cricket. For now, Paine will continue playing for the team, but the Australian Test side will find itself a new skipper ahead of the Ashes 2021-22.

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