Australia Test cricket captain Tim Paine steps down over 2017 texts sent to female colleague
Tim Paine has stepped down as Australia's Test cricket captain over an investigation into texts sent to a female colleague in 2017.
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." 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.
He said the texts were subsequently the subject of an investigation by Cricket Australia's Integrity Unit and Cricket Tasmania's HR team.
Despite not revealing what the messages said himself, media reports state they were of a sexual nature.
"Although exonerated, I deeply regretted this incident at the time, and still do today," Paine told reporters, less than three weeks before the start of the Ashes Test series -- the first match of which begins on December 8 -- against England.
"I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support.
"We thought this incident was behind us and that I could focus entirely on the team, as I have done for the last three or four years."
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.
"I'm sorry for any damage that this does to the reputation of our sport and I believe that it is the right decision for me to stand down as captain, effective immediately.
"I do not want this to become an unwelcome disruption to the team ahead of what is a huge Ashes series."
Cricket Australia (CA) chair Richard Freudenstein said in a statement on CA's official news website Friday that the board had accepted Paine's decision to step down and would work on appointing a new captain.
"While the Board acknowledges an investigation cleared Tim of any breach of the code of conduct regarding this matter some years ago, we respect his decision," he said.
"CA does not condone this type of language or behaviour."
Freudenstein also said that Paine would continue to be available for selection in the Test team.
CNN has reached out to Cricket Tasmania for comment but has yet to receive a response.
澳大利亚测试板球队长蒂姆·佩恩 (Tim Paine) 因 2017 年发给女同事的短信而辞职
蒂姆·潘恩 (Tim Paine) 因对 2017 年发送给一位女同事的短信进行调查而辞去澳大利亚板球队长一职。
在泪流满面的新闻发布会上，36 岁的潘恩表示，当时的调查发现他并没有违反联盟的行为准则，但“经过反思”，他觉得自己当时的行为“不符合联盟的行为准则”。澳大利亚板球队长的标准。”他还说他“最近”意识到文本交换将被公开。
潘恩说，四年前，也就是在他成为国家队队长之前不久，他将这些短信发给了塔斯马尼亚板球队的一位当时的同事。
他说，这些文本随后成为了澳大利亚板球队诚信部门和塔斯马尼亚板球队人力资源团队的调查对象。
尽管他本人没有透露这些信息的内容，但媒体报道称它们具有性行为。
“虽然被无罪释放，但我当时对这件事深感遗憾，今天仍然如此，”潘恩在灰烬测试系列赛开始前不到三周告诉记者——第一场比赛将于 12 月 8 日开始——对阵英格兰.
“当时我和我的妻子和家人谈过，非常感谢他们的原谅和支持。
“我们认为这件事已经过去了，我可以完全专注于团队，就像我过去三四年所做的那样。”
潘恩的任命本应为澳大利亚板球开创一个新时代，而在潘恩上任之前，澳大利亚板球就已被一桩作弊丑闻所破坏。
在最近有关澳大利亚板球队的 Netflix 系列节目中，主教练贾斯汀兰格 (Justin Langer) 广泛谈论了重建球队形象的问题。
潘恩的前任史蒂夫史密斯在 2018 年的球篡改事件之后也含泪辞职。
潘恩补充说：“我对我给我的妻子、我的家人和另一方造成的伤害和痛苦深表歉意。”
“对于这对我们这项运动的声誉造成的任何损害，我深表歉意，我相信辞去队长一职是正确的决定，立即生效。
“我不希望这在巨大的灰烬系列赛之前成为对团队的不受欢迎的干扰。”
澳大利亚板球（CA）主席理查德弗洛伊登斯坦周五在 CA 官方新闻网站上的一份声明中表示，董事会已接受潘恩下台的决定，并将努力任命一名新队长。
“虽然董事会承认几年前一项调查清除了蒂姆在这件事上的任何违反行为准则的行为，但我们尊重他的决定，”他说。
“CA 不容忍这种语言或行为。”
Freudenstein 还表示，Paine 将继续可供测试团队选择。
CNN 已联系 Cricket Tasmania 征求意见，但尚未收到回复。
