Ponting feels Tim Paine saga will be talked in The Ashes

MELBOURNE: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that the Tim Paine saga will be talked about wherever the Australian team will go during The Ashes. He added that it might end up distracting Paine and the Australian team in their quest to retain the Ashes at home. Paine had suddenly stepped down from being the Test captain on Friday after an off-field scandal involving text messages with a former Cricket Tasmania female staffer came into limelight.

"As much as we would all love to see it go away and there comes a point where it's never talked about, it's inevitable that it's going to be there. If he plays in Brisbane (for the first Test), the rest of the group and everyone needs to move on and do the best they can to forget about it and knuckle down," Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Wednesday.

"I think inevitably it will (be a distraction). Yes, he's made a huge call for himself, for Australian cricket and for the betterment of the Australian cricket team. But it's not going to go away. We're only a few weeks out from the first Test - it will bubble along," added Ponting. (IANS)

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