Australia's cricket Test coach has made a mercy dash to Tasmania to support Tim Paine, who was ousted as captain after a sexting scandal became public.
Justin Langer flew to Hobart from Brisbane on Tuesday to see Paine on a compassionate grounds exemption on the day he was released from hotel quarantine.
Paine resigned as Australia's Test captain 12 days ago when it emerged he sent sexually explicit messages to an employee of Cricket Tasmania in 2017.
Tim Paine (pictured left and on right of right picture) has been visited by Justin Langer (pictured on left of right picture) in a mercy dash flight to Tasmania
Cricket Tasmania became aware of the texts in mid-2018, with an investigation by the organisation and Cricket Australia clearing him of any code of conduct breaches.
Paine has since announced he is taking an indefinite break from the sport.
Langer wanted to see Paine face-to-face to offer his support to Paine, Fox Sports reported.
The pair worked together to rebuild the national team after the 2018 ball tampering scandal.
Langer had been in quarantine since arriving home from Australia's T20 World Cup campaign, where they beat New Zealand in the final by eight wickets.
The coach is expected to return to Queensland before the weekend to prepare for the first Ashes Test on December 8.
In an interview with Hamish McLachlan for News Corp, Paine said Langer told him he wanted him to remain as captain.
Tim Paine's wife Bonnie is seen on Monday getting out of her car at their family home in Hobart's south before heading to her beach house
'JL (Justin Langer) told me he's devastated,' Paine said.
'He was pretty firm that he wanted me to continue as captain, and again, once I explained to him the reasons that I thought resigning was the best thing to do, he was with me all the way.'
Langer's mercy dash comes as Paine's wife has taken some downtime at their waterfront beach house with a girlfriend in the wake of her husband's sexting scandal which cost him the Australian Test captaincy.
A downcast Bonnie Paine was seen exiting her car at the family home in Hobart's south on Monday before heading to their luxurious holiday home for some much-needed relief from the controversy which drove her husband out of his job.
The mother-of-two shared a snap of herself lazing on her balcony reading seminal feminist book: 'Women Don't Owe You Pretty' by Florence Given before posting a video of her friend sunbaking to her Instagram story.
Paine, meanwhile, held the fort back at the family home to look after their daughter Milla, four, and son Charlie, who happily carried a cricket bat as he followed dad.
Former Test captain Tim Paine stayed behind at the family home to take care of children Milla and Charlie (right) while wife Bonnie (left) took some time to unwind
Paine, 36, sent a photo of his penis to a female co-worker along with a stream of lewd text messages
The wicketkeeper's young son was seen holding a cricket bat while Paine sported a cap supporting the NBL team the Tasmania Jack Jumpers.
Mrs Paine is understood to still be taking some downtime at her holiday home but has vowed to stand by her husband.
A source told Daily Mail Australia she 'looked stressed' as she walked along the beach with her friend who stayed at the waterfront home overnight on Monday.
Mrs Paine has been spending a lot of time reading, the source added, while her husband back home looked 'relaxed' as he took his kids out for the day.
The cricketer last week said he would be taking a leave of absence from all forms of cricket 'for the foreseeable future' in the wake of the scandal.
Paine, 36, stood down as Test captain after confirming he sent sexual messages and a photo of his genitals to Cricket Tasmania staffer Renee Ferguson, 47, in 2017.
Teammates reportedly still wanted the veteran wicketkeeper to play the first Ashes Test at the Gabba against England beginning on December 8.
Paine instead withdrew from a domestic game and Cricket Tasmania confirmed he would miss Friday's one-dayer versus Western Australia so he can take an indefinite break from the sport.
His manager James Henderson also confirmed Paine is 'stepping away from cricket for an indefinite mental health break'.
He posted on Twitter that there are 'extreme concerns' for the well-being of Paine and Bonnie.
Paine was investigated by Cricket Australia in 2018 after Ms Ferguson complained, but cleared of misconduct and the matter kept secret.
The wicketkeeper's young son was seen holding a cricket bat while Paine sported a cap supporting the NBL team the Tasmania Jack Jumpers
Paine last week said he would be taking a leave of absence from all forms of cricket
He sent a photo of his penis to the female co-worker along with a stream of lewd text messages, many of which are too raunchy to publish.
'Will you want to taste my d**?? F**k me, I'm seriously hard,' one
