Cricket Tasmania chairman calls CA’s treatment of Tim Paine worst for any Aussie captain in 50 years

Cricket Tasmania has come in full support of its stalwart and recently resigned Australian captain Tim Paine because of the way he has been treated by Cricket Australia post his resignation. CT chairman Andrew Gaggin in a letter of support to Paine, which was filled with criticism of CA, lashed out at the cricket governing body of the country.

Gaggin went on to say that it is the worst treatment for any Australian captain in the last 50 years, claiming that Bill Lawry was probably the only captain in recent history to have been treated worse than Paine.

"In conversations, I have had in recent days, it is clear the anger amongst the Tasmanian cricket community and the general public is palpable. Tim Paine has been a beacon for Australian cricket over the past four years and instrumental in salvaging the reputation of the national team after the calamity of Cape Town.

Yet, at a time when CA should have supported Tim, he was evidently regarded as dispensable. The treatment afforded to the Australian Test captain by CA has been appalling, and the worst since Bill Lawry 50 years ago,” Gaggin said in a statement released on November 23rd.

"The Cricket Tasmania Board reaffirmed its view that Paine should not have been put in a position where he felt the need to resign over an incident that was determined by an independent inquiry at the time to not be a breach of the Code of Conduct and was a consensual and private exchange that occurred between two mature adults and was not repeated,” he added saying that Paine was in no way responsible for the second investigation in a closed matter which CA itself oversaw.

Earlier, current CA chairman Richard Freudenstein and CEO Nick Hockley had said that they would have axed Paine as the captain had they been in charge in 2018.

Discover more

WATCH: Dhananjaya de Silva gets out hit wicket during first Test vs West Indies

Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva found a distinguished way of getting himself out during the first Test against West Indies in Galle. Dhanajaya knocked off the bails while trying to keep away the ball from the stumps. He was undone for 61 in the first innings of the clash. Batting, first Sri Lanka scored 386 after Karunaratane struck a century while Pathum Nissanka and De Silva chipped in with individual fifties. Roston Chase scalped a fifer for 83 for West Indies during the course. In reply, the Caribbean side was pushed on to the back foot after they were reduced to 113/6 on the second day of the match. Ramesh Mendis returned with figures of 3/23 while Kyle Mayers and Jason Holder were at the crease before the stumps were called. West Indies are touring Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series and both the matches will be played in Galle.

SL vs WI | 1st Test, Day 2 Report - Sri Lanka spinners take control, reduce Windies to 113/6

Sri Lanka look like they are in for a big win on the second day of the first Test match of the series against West Indies at the Galle International Stadium in Colombo. The hosts, owing to a splendid 147 runs from captain Dimuth Karunaratne got into a commanding position despite the visitors making inroads into the SL middle order. Lanka scored 386 runs batting 144 overs. Coming into bowl, Sri Lanka only bowled five overs of pace at the top and introduced the returning Lasith Embuldeniya from the sixth over. Things took time as a patient Windies pairing added 46 runs in 20 overs, before Embuldeniya broke through their batting removing Jermaine Blackwood batting at 20. Sri Lanka took two more wickets in the next 12 overs cleaning up the top three, and from thereon Windies looked in shambles losing three wickets in 6 overs. None among Roston Chase, Nkrumah Bonner Shai Hope put up any resistance to the spin attack and got out cheaply. Ramesh Mendis was the pick among the bowlers, picking up three wickets for 23 runs from his six overs. At the end of the day, the visitors were tottering at 113/6 with Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers batting. West Indies would need to hold out the SL bowlers on Day 3 for as long as they can if they want to survive this Test match

We're comfortable & confident about Pakistan hosting Champions Trophy in 2025

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said that it is comfortable and confident on hosting the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan. "We wouldn't have awarded the event if we didn't think Pakistan was capable of hosting it. We think it is an exciting opportunity for them to be able to host a world event for the first time in a long time. I'm sure, as with all countries, they will put together appropriate security plans to deliver the event. We're comfortable and confident it will go ahead." This is the first instance after the 1996 World Cup that Pakistan will be hosting a global event. The decision from the ICC has already raised eyebrows of some and the questions have started to raise on India’s participation in the tournament. The governing body's chairman, Greg Barclay has said that it is going to be a challenging issue. "We know it's a challenging issue," Barclay said. "From my point of view, I can't control geo-political forces. I just hope cricket can be a force to help improve relations between countries. One of the great things sports can do is to help bring nations together. If we can do something in a small way to contribute to that, that's fantastic."

Watch | Bangladesh vs Pakistan T20I series culminates with a controversial final over

There were all the makings for a huge controversy in the third and the final T20 International of the Bangladesh vs Pakistan series. Despite the match being a dead rubber, the final T20I was closely contested with Pakistan needing 8 runs to win from the final 6 balls. With Taskin Ahmed not being able to complete his full quota of overs, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah was forced to bowl himself in the final over. What followed was sheer madness, and possibly one of the most entertaining last overs in recent times. The Bangladesh skipper started off with a length delivery against former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed who was playing his first game of the series. The right hand batter tried to sweep the ball hard down to the mid wicket region but ended up copping a blow on his chest. 8 off 5 required Almost a repeat of the first ball, but this time Sarfaraz connected. He sat down and swiped his bat hard but failed to get any elevation on the ball. Mohammad Naim standing at deep mid wicket did the rest, picking up a regulation catch. 0 and a wicket in the first two balls till now The third ball of the over, Mahmudullah had to bowl to Haider Ali, who was 37 balls in and had scored 45 runs at that point. The right arm slow medium bowled a shortish ball on the off stump, which Haider Ali pulled off his back foot. He did not get the desired connection and landed the ball straight to long on where Najmul hasan Shanto fumbled, but completed the catch in second attempt. 0,W,W in the first three balls. Now, two new batsmen were in the crease and in three balls 8 runs should have been tricky. But it was not. Facing the first ball of the innings, Iftikhar Ahmed hit a huge six down the ground against an over-pitched delivery to balance the equation; rather tilt it towards Pakistan. 0,W,W,6 Pakistan required 2 off the last two balls. Things were very easy from here on, but in an utter moment of madness, Ahmed sliced a full and wide delivery to backward point. Bangladesh went delirious and the commentators could not believe what they were seeing. When the camera panned to Pakistan captain Babar Azam while Ahmed took a long walk back, he looked furious with his batter to have thrown the opportunity away like that. Some slurs were hurled and some bottles were thrown as Pakistan looked to have messed things up. 0,W,W,6,W 2 needed off the last ball. This should have been finished in only one ball. All three results were possible. A win, a loss and a possible Super Over with Bangladesh’s worst bowler having taken the final over. And this is where the controversy began. Mahmudullah ran into bowl at Mohammad Nawaz, fresh in the crease. He bowled it into the stumps to everyone’s surprise and got the ball to come in from good length. Nawaz, at the last second, moved away from the line of the ball and left it alone. The ball crashed into the stumps and the crowd at Mirpur went up in celebration. Only, it wasn’t to be. Nawaz claimed that he was not ready and Mahmudullah in a moment of incredible self control and generosity, agreed to not stick to his appeal of a clean bowled!! 0,W,W,6,W,(bowled out) Pakistan knew that they need to run a single to make this safe, and Khushdil Shah standing that the bowler’s end decided to start early. Before the bowler could finish his stride, he took a couple of steps out to maximise the advantage. Mahmudullah stopped before rolling his arm and turned towards the wicket. He could have run Khushdil out and chose not to, once again in a maddening moment of sportsman spirit. 0,W,W,6,W,(bowled out),(mankad) A part-timer can only hold out for so long. Mahmudullah bowled a full delivery in the final (legal) ball of the innings and got slapped for a drive through extra cover. It appeared that his luck had run out finally as Pakistan clean sweeped the series 3-0 to cap off the tour. On the other hand Mahmudullah and his men sunk further extending their losing streak in the white ball format.