Ashes 2021: Tim Paine takes indefinite mental health break from cricket

Tim Paine is stepping away from cricket for an "indefinite mental health break", his manager said on Friday, leaving Australia's Ashes preparations in disarray a week after the wicketkeeper's resignation from the captaincy.

Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine is likely to miss the entire Ashes series after his manager announced that he is taking an indefinite mental health break from the game. The news comes a week after Paine tearfully quit as captain after revelations of a scandal involving the sending of inappropriate texts to a female co-worker in 2017.

Paine was due to play for Tasmania in a domestic one-day match in Hobart on Friday in the lead-up to the first Ashes Test in Brisbane on Dec. 8, but will be unavailable for the "foreseeable future", the state's cricket association said.