The lewd texts that brought down Australian captain Tim Paine can be revealed as the wicket-keeper’s place in the team remains under a cloud.
In a tearful news conference, the 36-year-old Paine said that an investigation at the time found he had not violated the league’s code of conduct, but “on reflection,” he felt his actions at the time did “not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain.
READ MORE: Sheffield Shield match postponed as Victorian team forced into isolation
READ MORE: WTA threatens to pull all tennis tournaments from China if missing star is not found
READ MORE: Win a PS5 and play FIFA 22 with Tim Cahill
He also said he had “recently” become aware that the text exchange would be made public.
Paine said he sent the texts to a then-colleague at Cricket Tasmania four years ago, shortly before he became national team captain.
The Herald Sun was first to reveal that Paine had sent the woman a “d— pic”, among other racy messages on the eve of the 2017/18 Ashes series.
The text messages in question were sent on November 22 and 23, 2017.
“I like good girl (name removed). But this other one sounds interesting,” Paine wrote on the 22nd, according to The Herald Sun.
“When I’m good I’m good. When I am bad I am brilliant,” she replied.
“Brilliantly bad??” Paine asked.
The following day, Paine was playing on television with his Australian teammates on day one of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
“I will think naughty thoughts about you whilst we watch the TV,” the woman texted him hours before the start of play.
“I’m cracking! Ha ha. Naughty thoughts like what? I’m about to give something a firm pull,” Paine replied.
She texted back saying she was getting ready for work.
“Will you want to taste my —?? F— me, I’m seriously hard,” Paine texted.
“I thought we were resting hands,” she said.
“Can’t rest them when I’m this hard!! Need to ease the tension … finish me off with those lips then,” said Paine, adding a wink emoji.
He then sent a “d— pic”, later described as “unsolicited”, telling the woman to “finish me off right now”.
Paine, who is married with two children, now says he “deeply regrets” the exchange.
The woman later claimed she was offended by Paine’s “sexually explicit, unwelcome and unsolicited photograph”, in addition to “the graphic sexual comments”.
Paine’s appointment was supposed to usher in a new era for Australian cricket, which had been marred by a cheating scandal ahead of Paine’s appointment.
During a recent Netflix series on the Australia cricket team, head coach Justin Langer spoke extensively about rebuilding the team’s image.
Paine’s predecessor Steve Smith also resigned tearfully in the wake of the ball tampering affair in 2018.”I’m deeply sorry for the hurt and pain that I have caused to my wife, my family, and to the other party,” Paine added.
with CNN
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!