Tim Paine is going to get asked about sexting saga wherever he goes, it will linger over Ashes: Ricky Ponting

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels the sexting saga involving wicket-keeper batter Tim Paine will bubble along wherever he goes and will linger over the Ashes series. Ponting said that Paine’s sexting scandal will be a distraction that won’t “go away” easily.

Paine stepped down from the role after sexually explicit text messages he sent to a female former colleague at Cricket Tasmania in 2017 were leaked to the media.

“I think inevitably it will (be a distraction),” Ponting told cricket.com.au.

“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.

“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.

“Unfortunately for Tim, he’s going to get asked about it everywhere he goes.

“Whenever you make mistakes and you’ve got to front up in front of the cricket-loving public, you have some doubts in the back of your mind for a period of time.”

Ponting backs Inglis to replace Paine

Ponting pointed out a short-term and a long-term scenario when he was asked about Paine’s replacement, picking Alex Carey and Jos Inglis for the two situations respectively.

“If he (Paine) plays this series and he finishes at the end of the series, they might look at a younger guy. If he’s not picked for Brisbane they might think about someone who’s a bit more experienced, being an Ashes series,” said Ponting.

“If Paine doesn’t play in Brisbane, the obvious one is Alex Carey. If Paine does play the Ashes series, they might look at someone like Inglis post this summer.

“I’m on record saying I love Inglis I think he’s going to be a really good cricketer for Australia for a long time in whatever format they pick him in first, whether it’s T20s, one-dayers or Test cricket.

“Speaking to Brad Haddin and even ‘Painey’ they really rate his keeping, they talk really highly of it.