Tim Paine has stepped down as Australia test cricket captain after revelations he had been investigated and cleared over sexually explicit text messages sent to a female former colleague four years ago came to light.
This comes just three weeks before their first Ashes Test in Brisbane, leaving Australia's preparations in disarray.
Paine will not captain Australia at the Ashes
The 36-year-old resigns after 23 tests as captain, with 11 wins, eight losses, and four draws, while in 2019, he became the first Australian men's captain to retain the Ashes in England since Steve Waugh in 2001.
He has said he will still make himself available for selection.
Vice-captain Pat Cummins will be expected to take the captaincy ahead of the five-test Ashes series.
Paine, who broke down in tears whilst reading from a statement, said he was cleared by a Cricket Australia Integrity Unit investigation but his actions did not meet the standards of an Australian cricket captain or the wider community.
Cummins is expected to replace him
Paine apologised to his family, who includes wife Bonnie, as he fought back tears
"I'm deeply sorry for the hurt and pain that I have caused to my wife, my family, and to the other party," said Paine.
"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."
It has been reported that Paine sent lewd messages and an explicit photo to the colleague four months before he was appointed Test captain in 2018, taking over from Steve Smith in the wake of the Cape Town ball tampering scandal.
Paine has played 35 tests for Australia, taking 150 catches behind the stumps
The report said the woman was a Cricket Tasmania employee who resigned in 2017 and later complained to the state governing body and to Cricket Australia (CA).
"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," said Paine, who declined to take any questions.
"However, I recently became aware that this private text exchange was going to become public."
The wicketkeeper-batsman has apologised to his teammates and fans
Cricket Tasmania Chairman Andrew Gaggin said in a statement that the investigation had found Paine's 'interaction' with the woman to be "consensual, private, occurred on the one occasion only, was between mature adults and was not repeated."
Cricket Australia (CA) said it accepted Paine's resignation and would name a captain soon.
"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," CA Chair Richard Freudenstein said in a statement.
"CA does not condone this type of language or behaviour."
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