ACA supports Paine and says he should not have quit

Hobart : November 19, 2009 - The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) came out to support Tim Paine who, less than three weeks prior to the Ashes decided not only to resign as Test captain but also revealed that he had been involved in a sexting scam.

It stated that it believed the wicketkeeper-batten did not need to resign as captain.The ACA regrets Tim Paines decision to resign as captain of the Australian Test Team.

This was regrettable but it was historical error that was private between two consenting persons.Cricket Australia conducted an integrity probe into Tim in 2018, and he was found not guilty.

Tim humbly acknowledged the respect that comes along with the Australian captaincy.His resignation is a reflection of the respect in which he held that role in an extremely difficult period in Australian cricket.

"The captaincy of Tim has been regarded by the entire cricket community as having played a critical role in restoring pride in the Australian teams performance and spirit," ACA stated in a statement.Paine was appointed Australias Test Captain following the 2018 Sandpaper scandal.

Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, and Steve Smith were all expelled.The statement said that Tim made a mistake but will still have full support from the ACA.Paine had a text conversation with a former female employee at Cricket Tasmania (CT), in 2017.He has now resigned as captain, but he is still available to be selected for the Ashes.

After being made aware of the public text exchange, Paine read a short statement that stated, "It is an incredibly hard decision but its the right one for my family, cricket and me." My decision was based on a text exchange I had with an ex-colleague nearly four years prior "A thorough CA Integrity Unit investigation was conducted at the time into the exchange, which included open participation and full participation.The Cricket Tasmania HR investigation found no violation of the Cricket Australia code.I still regret this event deeply today.

At the time, I talked to my wife and extended family and was tremendously thankful for their support and forgiveness.This incident had been resolved and I was able to focus on my team as for the past three-four years.

However, I was shocked to learn that the private text message exchange would be made public.Reflecting on 2017, my actions did not conform to the standards of an Australian cricket captain or any other member of the community.

My wife and my family are deeply sorry.I am sorry for the damage this has done to our sports reputation and believe it is right for me to step down as captain immediately.

Paine added, "I dont want it to be an unwelcome interruption to the team before what is a massive Ashes series." On December 8, the Ashes will begin at Gabba.

Paine played in 35 Test matches so far for Australia.He made his debut at Lords against Pakistan in 2010.

Paine played only four Tests in that year, and did not play again until 2017/18 Ashes.He led the hosts to victory with a score of 4-0.After the Sandpaper scandal, he was made Australia Test captain.akm #Paine #Cricket #BCCI #ICC #IPL.