I received a direct message via Facebook Messenger simply stating, "Tim Paine ..."

Sitting in a meeting, I took one of those sneaky looks at my phone, thinking his place in the team was unfairly under fire again, with his batting average or age being questioned.

Sadly, I was wrong, and now we are left with human challenges far more important than any Test match to take place this summer.

We were swiftly made aware of a series of events that led to the downfall of an admired captain of the nation's foremost sporting team.

At a remorseful press conference where there were initial questions about whether he was upset because he was caught, it was apparent that the trauma he caused at home was the lingering emotion even though the loss of the Test cricket captaincy must have stung, bad.

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What we did not understand at the time was that this moment had been four years in the making, kept from the public's view as employers investigated and found no breach of the code of conduct.

For all involved, this situation is now squarely about mental wellbeing. Cricket, the loser in this episode, is secondary as families, friends, spouses, and children will all eventually become embroiled.

This is one of those moments that we talk about but remain dreadfully poor at taking seriously, with punters heading straight to the socials to tag and comment on posts with emojis, innuendo, double entendres, blaming individuals, and calling for adherence to a higher moral code than many are prepared to live up to themselves.

But this is cricket and cricketers are role models and community leaders, who, in playing for their country, sign up to scrutiny and intrusion and pressure and prying media and commentary and public interest.

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This is cricket and we know no bounds in our criticism and calls for accountability, even though most mere mortals could only dream to don the baggy green.

The captain of the Australian cricket team is a position often described as second in importance only to the prime minister.

The comparison is apt, considering our country's competitiveness and passion for sport. A politician is elected by the people and a prime minister elected by the party room. And even though an Australian cricket captain is appointed by the board on the recommendation of a selection panel, like a politician, they must maintain the trust of the community.

From a Test cricket captain's purview, it is the selectors, board, coaching staff, and players who they must convince to stay in the role. In a modern world they must also upkeep a common level of decency and respect, thankfully far different from the halcyon days of 1970s and 1980s culture, when Australian larrikinism was admired by some, although not by women objectified by the behaviour.

Tim Paine would be the first to tell you he did wrong, sending lewd texts to a former Cricket Tasmania colleague. It was dumb and inappropriate and cruel and eventually, career-limiting.

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But this is not just about Tim and Bonnie Paine - they are the high-profile casualties. There is also a victim who felt sexually harassed and if we have learnt anything in recent times, not believing or blaming the victim is wrong, damaging, and permanent.

There is also another victim, Cricket Tasmania, which allegedly lost money, with the former employee currently facing criminal charges. This is a separate matter, but, for completeness, must be mentioned.

It is not our job to judge the veracity of claims on either side, because the courts will sort that out. It is our job to hold our tongues and provide a level of support to anyone we know who has made a mistake and suffers a huge mental health and emotional toll as a result. We are far quicker to judge others than we are ourselves.

For many, what will bite in the fallout from this matter, is that a once-admired cricket captain who did wrong has been replaced in the leadership group by former captain Steve Smith, who brought the game into disrepute. There appears a level of hypocrisy in appointing a fallen leader to the position of vice captain. No one questions the appointment of Pat Cummins as the 47th cricket captain of the Australian Test team. On the face of it, an old school gentleman who has been skipper in waiting for as long as Tim Paine oversaw the Test team.

As a community we talk much about the prevalence of mental health issues. However, there are still some Google experts who eloquently ... describe mental health injury as "sooking".

No one was surprised to hear that Tim Paine has taken an indefinite break from cricket. He has more than likely played his last Test, along with putting his "brand" at risk for the foreseeable future.

In response, what we should do is have the courage to support those doing it tough and refuse to blame victims who require our belief.

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