It has been an astonishing news week, starting with the harrowing testimony to a committee of parliamentarians by former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq about the racist bullying he was subjected to at a club which its recently resigned chairman admitted was ‘institutionally racist.’
I had not realised that Cricket Australia appointed him as captain in the 'new era' AFTER they knew about this behaviour with a member of staff. That is ridiculous. Surely the head of cricket there should also resign? The Barmy Army songbook just writes itself.....
The msg exchange happened in Nov 2017. From the published messages, it was clearly consensual. No complaint was made at the time the messages happened. Paine was not captain at this stage.
Then Cape Town happened in March 2018, and Paine was made captain. So at that point there was no harassment complaint and so CA did not know of any issue.
Then something very interesting happened. In June 2018, the employee of Cricket Tasmania (who had resigned several months before) was charged with theft. It was only at this point that the former employee made a complaint of sexual harassment. At the same time, or very soon after, they also requested AUD40k from CA to cover legal costs for the theft charge.
Cricket Tasmania (as the direct employer) and CA both conducted investigations and both concluded that the messages 'were consensual' and so no charges of sexual harassment were brought, and no breach of the player code of conduct was determined by CA. Hence the CA Board retained Paine as captain. Also, CA made no settlement offer to the former employee who was now making the complaint.
So all was quite for the next 3 years. Then Paine was informed that 'the story' had been sold to the Daily Mail in the UK (absolute gutter rag). So Paine resigns the captaincy - though given he'd done nothing wrong from an employee/cricket perspective, I really don't see why.
So why after 3 years did the issue re-emerge? Its likely to do with the fact that the theft case is due for court in 2 months time. It really looks like one last effort from a desperate party for a quid-pro-quo.
Oz, I always enjoy your feedback and there is no doubt that you have your 'ear to the ground'. I also have no reason to doubt what you are saying. All I can tell you is that I also have sources who are extremely closely connected and I trust the information I received from them. It's also, I assume, reasonable to assume that CA's administrators have, in recent years, been prudent in trimming off the facts which suit their narrative and ignoring those which don't...?
The part about the Daily Mail UK seems to be wrong. Articles in Aus are saying the story was 'leaked' to the Herald Sun (Aus)- no mention of it being sold. But the journo who leaked it (Stephen Drill) is London-based. He's a foreign correspondent for a stash of Murdoch (who owns the Daily Mail UK) papers in Aus. Also interesting to note that the leaked story names&shames Paine, but not the other party.
I had not realised that Cricket Australia appointed him as captain in the 'new era' AFTER they knew about this behaviour with a member of staff. That is ridiculous. Surely the head of cricket there should also resign? The Barmy Army songbook just writes itself.....
Hi David. That was not the timeline here.
The msg exchange happened in Nov 2017. From the published messages, it was clearly consensual. No complaint was made at the time the messages happened. Paine was not captain at this stage.
Then Cape Town happened in March 2018, and Paine was made captain. So at that point there was no harassment complaint and so CA did not know of any issue.
Then something very interesting happened. In June 2018, the employee of Cricket Tasmania (who had resigned several months before) was charged with theft. It was only at this point that the former employee made a complaint of sexual harassment. At the same time, or very soon after, they also requested AUD40k from CA to cover legal costs for the theft charge.
Cricket Tasmania (as the direct employer) and CA both conducted investigations and both concluded that the messages 'were consensual' and so no charges of sexual harassment were brought, and no breach of the player code of conduct was determined by CA. Hence the CA Board retained Paine as captain. Also, CA made no settlement offer to the former employee who was now making the complaint.
So all was quite for the next 3 years. Then Paine was informed that 'the story' had been sold to the Daily Mail in the UK (absolute gutter rag). So Paine resigns the captaincy - though given he'd done nothing wrong from an employee/cricket perspective, I really don't see why.
So why after 3 years did the issue re-emerge? Its likely to do with the fact that the theft case is due for court in 2 months time. It really looks like one last effort from a desperate party for a quid-pro-quo.
Oz, I always enjoy your feedback and there is no doubt that you have your 'ear to the ground'. I also have no reason to doubt what you are saying. All I can tell you is that I also have sources who are extremely closely connected and I trust the information I received from them. It's also, I assume, reasonable to assume that CA's administrators have, in recent years, been prudent in trimming off the facts which suit their narrative and ignoring those which don't...?
The part about the Daily Mail UK seems to be wrong. Articles in Aus are saying the story was 'leaked' to the Herald Sun (Aus)- no mention of it being sold. But the journo who leaked it (Stephen Drill) is London-based. He's a foreign correspondent for a stash of Murdoch (who owns the Daily Mail UK) papers in Aus. Also interesting to note that the leaked story names&shames Paine, but not the other party.
Thank you so much. Fascinating. This puts things into perspective- based on what you say here. Will be interesting to hear from Neil further.