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Tim Paine’s planned return from a lengthy injury lay-off was skittled by wet weather and ended with a swift, tight-lipped walk through a media scrum.
The former Test skipper stepped down from the role on Friday after it was revealed he sent lewd text messages and an inappropriate image to a female colleague in late 2017.
Paine is available for selection in the first Ashes Test against England on December 8 but questions are arising over whether he is still the best wicketkeeper for the job.
The 36-year-old had Saturday locked in for some weeks as his comeback from neck surgery for club side University at Hobart’s Queenborough Oval.
A wet outfield forced play to be abandoned in the mid-afternoon.
Paine wasn’t sighted at the ground before walking from the dressing sheds to a car. He didn’t make any comment to media.
Chairman of selectors George Bailey also declined to speak to journalists at the ground and was spotted leaving via a side gate.
Paine is not playing in Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield clash against Western Australia beginning Sunday at Bellerive Oval.
He is expected to take to the field in a second XI match for Tasmania against South Australia starting Monday.
There are no back-up wicketkeepers to Paine in Australia’s 15-strong Ashes squad, but glovemen Alex Carey and Josh Inglis are among Australia A fringe players.
“If he wasn’t the captain, would he have been picked in the first Test knowing the little amount of cricket or the form he has put on the board because of it?,” former Test opener and Tasmanian Ed Cowan told ABC radio.
“Without being the captain, I am actually surprised he didn’t retire (on Friday) because he is now under the pump and it’s the double whammy effect.
“What really is there to gain from a cricket point of view? I am surprised he is still playing, to be honest.”
It comes after Cricket Australia chair Richard Freudenstein said on Saturday Paine would not have survived as skipper in 2018 under the sport’s current administration.
Paine was appointed to the role in March 2018 after the ball tampering saga in South Africa forced Steve Smith to step down.
Cricket Tasmania says the lewd messages came to their attention in mid-2018 when the former employee was charged with stealing.
A subsequent Cricket Australia investigation that year cleared Paine of breaching the organisation’s code of conduct.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin has said Paine’s behaviour was not condoned but no further action was required because the messages were consensual.
Paine apologised to his family and the woman involved during a teary press conference on Friday but didn’t take questions.
Cricket Australia chairman Richard Freudenstein has admitted Tim Paine should not have survived as Test captain in 2018 as a result of the sexting scandal.
In a lengthy press conference on Saturday, Freudenstein claimed his current administration would not have cleared Paine’s actions if in charge three years ago.
The CA boss also revealed a review of all recent integrity decisions in recent years would talk place as part of the fallout of the Paine drama.
Off-field behaviour will also be made one of the key priorities in the appointment of a new captain, with officials left with just 18 days to appoint Paine’s successor before the Ashes.
But still, the focus of Australian cricket remains around the fallen wicketkeeper, who resigned on Friday as a result of lewd texts sent to a Cricket Tasmania colleague in 2017.
Just months into his captaincy, Paine was cleared of any code of conduct breach in 2018 over the text exchange, which included a lewd image.
“I cannot speak about the original decision making in 2018,” Freudenstein said.
“But what I can say is faced with the same circumstances and with the benefit of all the relevant information about this matter, Cricket Australia would not make the same decisions today.
“I acknowledge the decision clearly sent the wrong message to the sport, to the community and to Tim: that this kind of behaviour is acceptable and without serious consequences.”
When asked if his current administration would have endorsed Paine as captain in the circumstances, Freudenstein said he would not.
“Based with the facts as they are today, the board of Cricket Australia today would not have made that decision,” Freudenstein said.
But the interim chairman – who only took on the top job last month – insisted Paine was right to want to play on in the Ashes.
“The captain of the Australian cricket team has to be held to a very high standard which is why I think it is absolutely appropriate that Tim has resigned,” he said.
“The board of Australian cricket is comfortable he is available to play.”
Both Freudenstein and Nick Hockley insisted Paine’s fall did not undo the turnaround in cricket’s image since the ball-tampering scandal.
They also defended their own positions on the matter, adamant that action need not be taken earlier after they joined the board and executive.
In turn, the pair were also insistent that CA had taken steps forward, with greater education around social media and sexting implemented in the summer after Paine’s incident.
But there will now be a closer look at other integrity issues in the sport.
“Every issue is different. Every circumstance is different,” Freudenstein said.
“I’m very confident in the way integrity decisions are made and (with) the integrity unit.
“We will have a review back over the past few years. I’m sure that that will lead to no further changes.”
Officials had already planned on searching for Australia’s next captain this summer, with the expectation Paine would soon retire.
“I’m not going to make any comments about who is the likely (next captain),” Freudenstein said.
“You can be sure that part of that process will be trying to make sure to the best we are able to that those (integrity) issues don’t exist.”
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