Andrew Bolt: Paine pays big price for one bad call

TIM Paine had to go as Test captain in light of his sexting scandal, but let’s agree that he was a worthy captain while it lasted.

Tim Paine stepped down as Australian men's Test Cricket Captain at Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

The strangest thing about the “scandal” of Australian captain Tim Paine is that he sent a woman a picture of a part of the male body – his body – that looks ridiculous.

Do women really like pictures of that organ? If so, why do even the most letting-it-all-hang-out women’s mags almost never let that bit hang out in their pages?

The second strangest is that Paine was made Test captain even after Cricket Australia was told about his sexting to a Cricket Tasmania colleague.

You want your captain to be the kind of guy always thinking a couple of steps ahead of the play. But Cricket Australia hired a bloke who didn’t think, “hmm, if I send this photo to this woman who’s not my wife, I’ve put my entire reputation and career in her hands”.

I get it, Cricket Australia expected, or hoped, no one would ever know about that picture, sent during a flirty exchange of emails between two consenting adults over two days.

The only reason Paine is now quitting is that the story did get out, after the woman had an acrimonious parting with Cricket Tasmania, which accused her of stealing.

But is this apparent hypocrisy – that Paine could be the good-guy captain while his bad-boy secrets were kept – really so bad?

Tim Paine stepped down as Australian men's Test Cricket Captain. Picture: Chris Kidd

Sometimes hypocrisy is how fallible people still manage to do good.

In fact, until now, Paine’s captaincy was widely regarded as a success, helping Australia to regain respect for its sportsmanship after the team’s cheating scandal in South Africa.

If the photo had stayed a secret, Paine would still be captain and still praised.

What’s more, the “dick pic” was an aberration, or so we’re told. A strange one, I admit.

The sexting was brief and the texts show no sign of the woman taking offence at Paine’s gross crudity. There was no affair.

Paine’s wife has now spoken movingly about how she learnt to forgive him.

She says her husband became a better man for confronting his failings.

I’m not sure why any of us should be any less forgiving than her. I know: Sponsors will be having kittens, journalists will be sharpening knives and the Barmy Army fans will be writing new lyrics for Paine for when their English team takes the field in the Ashes.

And there’s now the image of the game to consider.

So Paine had to go, but let’s agree that he was a worthy captain while it lasted.