Tim Paine Sunday said Australian coach Justin Langer wanted him to remain as Test skipper, as he spoke of his “distress” and “embarrassment...
Tim Paine Sunday said Australian coach Justin Langer wanted him to remain as Test skipper, as he spoke of his “distress” and “embarrassment” over a sexting scandal that cost him his job.
The 36-year-old abruptly quit on Friday ahead of the Ashes series against England over a series of lewd text messages with a female colleague in 2017 that he had learnt were about to be made public.
Paine insisted it was his decision to resign and he wasn’t pushed.
“It was mine and mine alone,” he told the Melbourne Herald Sun in an interview.
“It was hard, but I know it’s the right thing to do. I feel completely gutted, but it’s all my doing, and I know resigning is the right call.”
Paine said plenty of people wanted me to stay on, including Langer.
“JL (Justin Langer) told me he’s devastated,” he said.
“He was pretty firm that he wanted me to continue as captain, and again, once I explained to him the reasons that I thought resigning was the best thing to do, he was with me all the way.
“I’ve got messages from all my teammates saying they’ve got my back, and that we all make mistakes, and we move on,” he added, insisting none of them had prior knowledge of the...
