Tim Paine sexting scandal: “I felt betrayed, outraged, but we went on,” says his wife, “and frustrated it is now in public.”

Bonnie Paine, Tim Paine’s wife, claimed that while she felt “betrayed” and “hurt” when her husband sent vulgar text messages to a coworker in Cricket Tasmania in 2017, the couple had put the matter to rest a long time ago and she is just unhappy that it has now been made public.

After the text exchanges from 2017 were made public this month, Paine announced his resignation as Australia’s Test captain.

“I felt betrayed, sad, furious, and pissed off,” Paine’s wife told News Corp in an interview alongside her husband. “I also had sentiments of thankfulness because he was being so honest with me.”

“I’ve had my share of becoming furious, venting, and sad,” she added. “We battled and spoke, and then we both chose to move on with life and do it together.”

The texts were sent before Paine re-entered the Australian Test lineup. The wicketkeeper was named Test squad captain a year after a Cricket Australia integrity review exonerated him, and he was hailed as the forerunner of new and improved team culture. After Steve Smith was fired in the aftermath of the 2018 ball-tampering controversy, he was promoted to captain.

“I’m a little annoyed that it’s been dredged out and broadcast in public after we’d put it to rest years ago. Since then, I’ve progressed. I believe there is a great deal of injustice in it being brought up again “Paine’s wife went on to say more.

According to cricket officials, the woman only complained about Paine’s texting after she was charged with theft after resigning from her job. “Consensual, private, occurred on the one occasion only… and was not repeated,” Cricket Tasmania said of Paine’s “contact” with the woman.

Cricket Australia’s choice not to make the probe public was widely panned in the Australian media, with pundits claiming the body put brand management ahead of integrity.