Cricket Australia (CA) has been criticised for its handling of the Tim Paine sexting scandal, with former players saying it highlights the organisation's poor cultural standards.

Paine resigned as the Australian men's Test captain on Friday after revealing he was involved in a text-message exchange with a female former employee of Cricket Tasmania in late 2017.

CA confirmed it had investigated the incident in 2018 and cleared Paine "of any breach of the code of conduct".

Dirk Nannes, who represented Australia at the ODI and T20 level, said Paine made the "right decision" to step down as captain.

But he said CA needed to be put under the microscope and questioned as to why it kept quiet about the incident at the time.

"How guilty is Cricket Australia in trying to keep this hush-hush, and trying to keep the image of its captain as clean as possible?" Nannes told ABC Sport.

"CA are probably going to say, 'That was a past administration, we've moved on, it won't happen again,' and the cricketing public will forget about it quickly.

"But I don't think that's good enough from a Cricket Australia perspective.

Paine became Test captain after Steve Smith stepped down from the position following the ball-tampering scandal in the third Test of Australia's series in South Africa in March 2018.

Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were suspended for their role in the incident at Newlands in Cape Town.

Nannes said the timing of when CA was made aware of Paine's text-messaging exchange might have been the reason why the organisation did not go public with its investigation.

But he said that was no excuse for not revealing what had happened at the time.

"It reeks of an organisation that's on the back foot after the Newlands scandal, trying to cover up and make sure there weren't two fallouts of an Australian captain in quick succession," he said. 

"I think that's what they've done. They've tried to cover it up and now it's sort of unravelled a bit, and they've got a lot of mud on their hands."

CA's 'toxic culture'

Former Australian Test opener Ed Cowan said CA deserved to be scrutinised for how it managed the Paine incident.

"It's a great lesson and reminder [that] there's no such thing as sweeping things under the carpet," he said.

"I can't think of one where you're not better off dealing with it at the time."

Cowan said CA should have spoken publicly about its investigation in 2018.

"This was at a time when the Australian cricket [men's] team and the culture around the team was at an all-time low," he said.

"Where people [were] barking at other players on the field, we had people tampering with balls with sandpaper and now … a member of the team doing very, very silly things.

"It just plays to that sort of view that they felt they were invincible, that there was nothing in the world that could stop them, they were accountable to no-one, and so it really plays to the culture of the time.

"That is where my mind goes instantly … it was so bad, it was toxic. It wasn't just toxic on the field; it was toxic off the field.

"It's interesting as to how people will view the administrators that were involved at the time, and some are still involved in the game now."

Paine's place in Ashes squad

CA confirmed Paine would still be considered for selection in Australia's XI for the first Ashes Test beginning at the Gabba on December 8.

Cowan said he was surprised Paine did not announce his retirement on Friday.

He said he doubted whether Paine would have been selected in Australia's wider Ashes squad earlier this week if he had stepped down as captain at an earlier date. 

"My gut feel is if he wasn't the captain would he have been picked in that first Test [squad]?" he said.

Nannes said Paine might not deserve to be selected for the Ashes series following his decision to step down as Australian captain.

"Does Tim Paine even play [in the Ashes]?" he said.

"He says he wants to play and continue playing [for Australia] but is he even the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the country?

Nannes said he felt fast bowler Pat Cummins would be a suitable candidate to replace Paine as captain.

He said he expected Australia to retain the Ashes this summer, despite the distraction of Paine's resignation.

No comment from Paine in Hobart

Paine was due to line up for University of Tasmania cricket club today against South Hobart Sandy Bay, but the match at Queenborough Oval was called off due to rain.

Paine was surrounded by media cameras as he left the ground after the match was called off. When asked how he was feeling, he said: “Not speaking today, sorry mate."

Earlier in the day, Ben Harrison, University’s high performance manager, confirmed Paine was in the selected first grade side, and said he had spoken to the former Australian captain.

Asked how Paine was, he said: “[He’s] all fine, looking forward to playing today.

"History tells us every time Tim Paine’s available he plays for University, that’s his home and that’s the club that he loves to represent."

Paine represented the team last year when they won the first grade final and the one-day final.

"He’s a massive part of our club," Harrison said.