From Ashes hero to Aussie cricket’s shame: Tim Paine’s dramatic fall from grace
Tim Paine’s career has endured its fair share of highs and lows, but Friday’s bombshell revelation will go down as his greatest shame.
Tim Paine’s career has endured its fair share of highs and lows, but Friday’s bombshell revelation will go down as the wicketkeeper’s greatest shame.
The 36-year-old stood down as Australian Test captain with immediate effect after reports emerged of a historic sexting scandal involving a former Cricket Tasmania employee in November 2017.
According to a News Corp report, the woman claimed she was offended by “Mr Paine’s sexually explicit, unwelcome and unsolicited photograph of his genitals in addition to the graphic sexual comments”.
Watch every game of the Weber WBBL Live & On-Demand on Kayo or catch up for FREE with minis on Kayo Freebies. Join Kayo Now >
The humiliated cricketer fronted media in Hobart on Friday afternoon, but refused to answer questions.
It’s the latest chapter in one of Australian cricket’s most remarkable careers, which has featured injury woes, shock selections and, of course, a ball-tampering saga.
Baby-faced Paine makes Test debut
Paine made his first-class debut against South Australia in December 2005, scoring a duck in his maiden Sheffield Shield innings.
But following a promising few years in domestic cricket, national selectors rewarded the blonde gloveman with an ODI debut against Scotland in August 2009.
After wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was withdrawn from a Test series against Pakistan in 2010, Paine was called up as his temporary replacement.
The Tasmanian made his Test debut alongside future Australian captain Steve Smith for the first match at Lord’s.
Paine claimed his maiden Test catch in the seventh over of Pakistan’s first innings, with Tasmanian teammate Ben Hilfenhaus finding the outside edge of Imran Farhat’s bat.
But he had a relatively quiet series with the bat, failing to reach fifty in four knocks against the Pakistanis.
After two more Test matches against India in October 2010 — during which he registered a career-best score of 92 in Mohali — Paine was replaced by Haddin for the 2010/11 Ashes series.
He would not get another opportunity to don the Baggy Green for seven years.
‘I was scared’: Horror injury woes
Paine broke his index finger during a charity match in November 2010, which prompted an arduous recovery process for the gloveman.
The injury required him to undergo seven surgeries that involved eight pins, a metal plate and a piece of hip bone.
The wicketkeeper was out of action for two years.
“When I started training and playing again I wasn’t too bad, until I started to face guys who bowled a bit quicker. And they’d be running in and instead of thinking about hitting the ball, I was thinking: ‘Geez I hope he doesn’t hit me on the finger’,” Paine told the Bounce Back podcast.
“From there it was just a downward spiral. I lost absolutely all confidence. I didn’t tell anyone about it. The truth is, one, I was scared of getting hit and two, I just didn’t know what I was going to do.
“I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat. I was so nervous before games, I’d have no energy. I was horrible to live with. I was pretty ordinary to my partner, who is now my wife. I was always angry and took out that I wasn’t doing well on other people.
“I was embarrassed at what I had become.”
Paine married his wife Bonnie in 2016 — the couple have two children together.
Paine’s shock Ashes return
National selectors dropped a bombshell ahead of the 20117/18 Ashes series, dropping incumbent wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and recalling Paine for the first time in over seven years.
The Tasmanian’s long-awaited return started poorly, dropping a regulation catch off Nathan Lyon’s bowling on day one of the Gabba Test.
But Paine finished the series with 26 dismissals — the fourth highest tally by a wicketkeeper in Ashes history — as Australia cruised towards a 4-0 victory over their British rivals.
He averaged 48.00 with the bat in the five-match series, scoring a half-century in the second Test at Adelaide Oval.
Infamous Cape Town saga
Australia’s tour of South Africa in March 2018 was a career-defining series for many cricketers, and Paine was no exception.
During the third Test between Australia and South African at Newlands, Australia’s Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing sandpaper on the match ball, sparking one of the biggest sporting controversies of the century.
Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Bancroft were all handed one-year bans, and Cricket Australia announced that Paine would become Australia’s 46th Test captain for the fourth Test at Johannesburg.
In the space of six months, Paine had gone from a second-choice state wicketkeeper to the Australian Test captain.
“I wasn’t keen on it, but I didn’t say that,” Paine told cricket.com.au of his initial reaction to the captaincy reveal.
“I just thought at the time that I had to do it.
“It was a strange circumstance to have it in, and it wasn’t really a time for celebrating.”
‘Elite honesty’: Two words ring hollow in wake of sexting scandal
Paine and new coach Justin Langer were framed as the figures that would lead the Australian men’s cricket team into a new area.
As Cricket Australia underwent a thorough cultural review, the team’s mentality shifted from “win at all costs” to “elite honesty”.
“We want to build a culture that makes people want to be better and produce not only better cricketers but better people,” Paine said at the time.
“We know what’s right and we know what’s wrong. We know what Australian cricket expects of us.
“And we’ll be holding each other accountable.”
The world laughed at the notion of “elite honesty” when a poster with the phrase was plastered in the Australian dressing room as Langer tried his best to explain it.
“You look at a bloke or a lady in the face and you tell them the truth and you need to be really honest with yourself because if you’re not you’re kidding yourself,” he said in 2018.
“The man in the mirror is almost a cliche, but if you want to be successful in life you have got to be able to look yourself in the mirror.
“You can lie to everyone else, but you can’t lie to yourself. So that’s elite honesty to yourself.
“And also, the Aussie way I know it is to look a bloke in the eye, look your sister or you mum in the eyes, and tell them the truth and be happy to get some truth back, so that’s elite honesty.”
It’s a concept some may say rings a little hollow in the wake of Friday’s revelations, especially as CA’s decision to keep Paine as captain when it knew of the sexting scandal came under fire.
In October 2018, Paine scored a patient 61 not out against Pakistan to help the Aussies secure an unlikely draw in Dubai.
But after returning Down Under that summer, Australia suffered its first Test series defeat to India on home soil under Paine’s leadership. However, the wicketkeeper was heaped with praise for his non-abusive sledging.
Six months later, Paine and his Australian teammates retained the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years.
Indian sledging saga
India returned back to Australia for the 2020/21 summer of cricket, and Paine found himself embroiled in a sledging saga on the final day of the New Year’s Test at the SCG.
As the match started to slip out of Australia’s fingers, the wicketkeeper was overheard on the stump microphones calling Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin a “d***head” in an ugly spray.
“We can’t wait to get you to the Gabba, Ash,” Paine said.
“At least my teammates like me, d***head I’ve got a lot more Indian friends than you do. Even your teammates think you’re a goose. Don’t they. Every one.”
To make matters worse, the Australian captain dropped a regulation catch off Mitchell Starc’s bowling a few minutes later.
Paine later apologised for the comments, but the incident raised questions about his leadership and character.
Later that summer, Australia again lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as India claimed an unforgettable victory at the Gabba in January 2021.
Paine’s historic sexting scandal
On Friday, Paine stood down as Australian Test captain after it emerged he had been investigated by Cricket Australia following a sexting scandal.
The Herald Sun first revealed Paine sent a former Cricket Tasmania employee a “d*** pic” and a series of lewd messages on the eve of the 2017/18 Ashes series.
Speaking to media in Hobart on Friday afternoon, Paine confirmed he had informed Cricket Australia of his decision to step down from the leadership position,
“I’m sorry for any damage that this does to the reputation of our sport,” he said.
“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.
“I have loved my role as captain of the Australian cricket team. It’s been the greatest privilege of my sporting life to lead the Australian men’s Test team. I’m grateful for the support of my teammates and proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together. To them, I ask for their understanding and forgiveness.
“To Australian cricket fans — I’m deeply sorry that my past behaviour has impacted our game on the eve of the Ashes. For the disappointment I have caused to fans and the entire cricket community, I apologise.”
Cricket Australia confirmed Paine was still eligible to play in the upcoming Ashes series, but it remains to be seen whether he has played his last Test match for Australia.
“I’d say it’s going to be tough for him to hold his spot in the team now,” former Australian batter Mark Waugh told 2GB on Friday.
“He’s 36 years of age, he’s coming back from injury, and now he’s got this scandal hanging over his head.
“There’s a lot of things against Tim Paine now.”
The first Ashes Test gets underway at the Gabba on Wednesday, December 8.
‘No’: Aussie greats slaps down Warner offer
The reaction to an offer from retired Test opener David Warner to come back and play India was met with a swift response from an Australian legend.
Warner’s shock text message to selectors
David Warner has said it all with a cheeky text message to selectors with the Aussie team still yet to find an answer to replace him.
‘Hard to say’: Starc query on Indian series
Not a single one of seven Tests last summer went the full five days which was a luxury Australia’s fast bowlers may not get against India.