JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 03: Captain Tim Paine of Australia during day 5 of the 4th Sunfoil Test match between South Africa and Australia at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on April 03, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)

In the wake of the Tim Paine sexting scandal, the attempted rebrand of Australian cricket has come tumbling down. He is now the second captain in a row to resign in disgrace.

The funny thing here is that the “clean up” was only ever external. An attempt to photoshop the image of cricket in Australia. Internally it appears to have been business as usual.

Paine’s actions are shocking, but worse is the fact that Cricket Australia knew about it. Their “integrity unit” cleared him of any wrongdoing before appointing him captain.

This is embarrassing to the point of being offensive. Knowing about it and still deciding to appoint him as Test captain shows the scant regard they have for the cricketing public.

Paine started well in his role but the fact this had been swept under the rug negates all that. As does the fact his behaviour has been declining for a while now.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 09: Tim Paine of CA XI bats during day two of the Four Day Tour match between the Cricket Australia XI and England at Adelaide Oval on November 9, 2017 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

Being involved in heated exchanges with opposition players while supposedly being “the nice guy” hinted at something more. Our cricketers were still the same, our culture was the same.

Which brings us to the real culprits. Without wanting to trivialise what Paine has done, he has suffered no consequences for his actions until now.

As a result, he took no responsibility until now. Cricket Australia have been woeful for years. Yet again, they have failed the cricketing public.

The "win at all costs" attitude has continued to breed a culture of toxic behaviour. It seems that nothing is inexcusable so long as you win and keep the money rolling in.

The Australian cricketing public have been sold one of the great lies by the people who run the sport. The image clean-up has been shown as a PR stunt that has failed.

Following the sandpaper ball-tampering fiasco, senior figures at CA were made scapegoats. Ben Amarfio among them.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 01: Tim Paine of Australia during day 3 of the 4th Sunfoil Test match between South Africa and Australia at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on April 01, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

That’s the same Ben Amarfio, now at the North Melbourne Football Club, who helped announce that the AFL club is debt-free after 35 years. The irony that North announced that on the same day the Paine scandal broke won’t be lost on many.

Former Test Captain Kim Hughes was scathing of CA in his remarks on Five AA Radio in Adelaide.

“What I find staggering is that Cricket Australia review the situation and did nothing,": Hughes said. 

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.... Integrity? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“For God’s sake. You found that out and then said ‘well that’s still acceptable’ and to appoint him captain? Give me a break. It’s absolutely staggering.”

More so when you consider our neighbours across the Tasman are the benchmark for the sport. They play the game well and in the right manner. The way we behave is quite frankly, embarrassing at times.

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With this scandal, we yet again lack any form of integrity or credibility. If CA are serious about cleaning things up, they’ll need to actually stamp out this sort of behaviour.

Their statement that they “do not condone this type of language or behaviour” was laughable. That is exactly what they did, they rewarded it with the Australian Test Captaincy.

The timing couldn’t be worse with the Ashes just three weeks away. With any luck, this may prove a turning point the moment that the penny drops. Sadly, however, nothing in recent history suggests that will be the case.