Have accelerated process of finding Australia Test captain: CA chairman

Cricket Australia chairman Richard Freudenstein on Saturday said the board has accelerated the process of finding the next Test captain following the resignation of Tim Paine. The wicket-keeper has stepped down as the captain of the side ahead of the much-awaited Ashes opener.

"We put in place a process for finding the next Australian captain which was going to take place in the next summer in the anticipation that Tim Paine would retire one day. We are accelerating that process, we will look at all the relevant criteria and we will come to a conclusion. There is time before the Ashes, we have a strong team, they are working hard at the moment. It is going to be a great series," said Freudenstein while replying to an ANI query during the virtual press conference.

Cricket Australia on Friday informed about Paine's decision to leave captaincy "immediately". "Tim Paine has advised the Board of Cricket Australia of his decision to stand down as captain of the Australian men's Test team, effective immediately," Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement.

When Richard was asked about the circumstances when the sexting scandal first emerged in 2018, he said: "I cannot talk about the circumstances that took place then, but the facts that have emerged today, the board of Cricket Australia of today would not have made that decision."

According to cricket.com.au, Paine announced his resignation as Test skipper following revelations of a 'sexting' incident with a former Cricket Tasmania colleague in 2017.
Paine "deeply regretted" the incident and said he was "enormously" grateful to his wife and family for the forgiveness.

"I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support. 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," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

(ANI)