Cricket Tasmania have hit out at the 'appalling' treatment of Tim Paine, doubling down on their support of the former Test captain.
Paine stood down from the role as Australian skipper last Friday, after it was revealed he had sent lewd text messages and images to a former staff member.
The 36-year-old was cleared of any wrongdoing at the time in an internal investigation, but still walked away from the Australian leadership after the scandal went public.
And in a statement on Tuesday, Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin condemned the treatment of Paine as 'the worst in 50 years' after the nature of his text messages went public.
“In conversations I have had in recent days it is clear that the anger among the Tasmanian cricket community and general public is palpable,” he said.
“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.
“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.”
Stunning statement by Cricket Tasmania in support of #TimPaine and against Cricket Australia. pic.twitter.com/XJb6DlUSRg
— David Mark (@davymark1) November 23, 2021
Paine is still expected to take the gloves for the upcoming Ashes series, while his replacement as captain is yet to be determined.