The fallout from former Test captain Tim Paine has continued, the man once tasked with guiding Australia’s Cricket team through a cultural transformation has now officially been removed from an upcoming Ashes video game cover.
Paine has been replaced by fast bowler – and favourite to be the men’s team’s new captain – Pat Cummins who is standing alongside the captain of the women’s team, Meg Lanning.
Paine became captain after a ball tampering cheating scandal rocked the Australian Test team’s leadership group in 2017. Even after taking over during a tumultuous period for the playing group, Paine’s tenure has generally been considered a great success by cricketing pundits and fans alike.
However, after becoming ensnared in a sexting scandal whereby Paine sent a naked image to a female colleague, Paine’s position became untenable, and his resignation quickly followed. Now it’s been reported that he has suffered the additional indignity of losing his cover spot on Big Ant Studios Cricket 22 game.
Big Ant Studios released a statement saying “Unfortunately, factors beyond our control have meant that we need to update the game’s cover art, other visuals and team lists.”
“As a result, we have made the difficult decision to delay the game’s release by a week for all platforms both physical and digital.”
This is the first time Big Ant Studios has ever delayed a game release, but current events have made the forthcoming changes a necessity for them.
Replacing Tim Paine on the delayed games cover and quite possibly as the next men’s Test skipper is Pat Cummins. He features alongside world beating women’s captain Meg Lanning.
