Last month, Australia vice-captain Ash Gardner found herself at the center of a cheating scandal where she had been accused of cheating on her wife with a teammate.
The Aussie cricket star's now ex-wife Monica Wright, who was friends with several of the other players, named the teammate involved in the affair and the matter was looked into by Cricket Australia.
Gardner is a vice-captain and the teammate in question, Georgia Voll, is not, which raises questions about a possible conflict of interest given the power imbalance.
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Cricket Australia was made aware of the affair before the scandal made headlines. After looking into it, the organization decided not to strip the vice-captain of her position.
"Ash is a highly regarded leader in our system. The CA board make leadership decisions and have oversight over all leadership decisions," Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said, reports The Guardian.
"Ash is our vice-captain for a reason, because she’s highly regarded, but what we will do is in situations where there are personal relationships is make sure there are additional guardrails, so the perception of conflict or conflict itself – talking about things like selection – are handled appropriately and respectfully."
Now let's hear from the vice-captain herself. She addressed the matter as well as the decision not to remove her from her position.
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"While my separation from my wife is a personal matter, I understand my current relationship status needed to be addressed by Cricket Australia given my position as vice-captain," Gardner wrote on her Instagram Story.
"I am grateful that the CA Board has chosen to support my continued leadership. I look forward to playing a strong role as a leader and providing the best possible support for my teammates in the season to come."
She doesn’t want to have to discuss the matter any further and included a message for her ex-wife.
"I am grateful for the time Monica and I shared and sorry for the pain this has caused. I wish her nothing but happiness and success in the future," Gardner wrote.
"I won't be making any further public comment on this matter at this time and ask that the privacy of those involved is respected."
There you have it. The captain is putting this all behind her. She wants to move on and the fact that she had an affair with a teammate shouldn’t impact her role as a leader. She's going to be just fine.
And so is Monica Wright, for that matter. We tend to focus on the cheating athlete in these scandals, but something tells me the wife she left behind in this case is going to be just fine.
