Ex-staffer sought an apology, legal fee payment in 2018: Report

SYDNEY: Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine's 'sexting scandal' is turning uglier with each passing day as now another report claims that the former Cricket Tasmania staffer who received explicit text messages in 2017, formally contacted the Cricket Australia the following year requesting an apology from the cricketer and the sum of $40,000 to cover her legal costs.

According to Sydney Morning Herald, representatives of CA were also handed a printed copy of the text messages and images by a representative of the former staffer in January 2019.

"CA has confirmed to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the staffer contacted the governing body multiple times in the second half of 2018, requesting an apology from Paine and money to cover her legal costs in an ongoing dispute with Cricket Tasmania," the report said. The emails sent by the staffer to CA were addressed to Christine Harman, the organisation's head of legal affairs, and shared with a select group of senior staff at the time.

"In Harman's response in early November, the request was declined on the basis that it was a dispute between the staffer and two employees of Cricket Tasmania, as Paine was not a CA contracted player at the time of the text exchanges in November 2017 on the night before and the morning of the first Test of that summer's Ashes series.

"However, as he was not only CA contracted but also the captain of the national team when the exchanges were brought to CA's attention in May 2018, Paine was subject to parallel investigations by CA's integrity unit and also Cricket Tasmania," it said.

A CA integrity investigation of the matter concluded in May 2018 that the 36-year-old had not transgressed in a manner that would bring a charge under its code of conduct. (IANS)

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