An Australian cricketer has apologised to her ex-wife just weeks after finding herself at the centre of an alleged affair scandal.

Ash Gardner has made a name for herself as the vice-captain of the Australian women’s cricket team through the past six months, but her leadership role was put in jeopardy earlier this month after a revelation from her former spouse.

Gardner’s ex-wife Monica Wright made headlines across the nation in July, after accusing the cricketer of cheated on her with teammate Georgia Voll, while the duo competed in India.

The allegations were first made after an article claimed Gardner had walked away from the relationship — a claim that Wright said was “too vague” before she revealed the alleged affair.

While Wright has had no qualms publicly speaking about the allegations, the Test cricket star has remained silent over the affair — until now.

On Thursday afternoon, the 29-year-old finally spoke about the scandal in a lengthy post shared to her Instagram story.

“While my separation from my wife is a personal matter, I understand my relationship status needed to be addressed by Cricket Australia given my position as vice-captain,” she wrote in a post to her 196,000 followers.

“I am grateful that the 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.

“I am grateful for the time Monica and I shared and I’m sorry for the pain this has caused.

“I wish her nothing but happiness and success in the future.”

The sport star ended her message by asking for privacy for all the individuals involved in the saga.

Her statement comes just hours after Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg addressed the scandal during a radio interview, revealing that members of the organisation were aware of the affair before it was reported by media.

“It’s new news in the media but for those that were in the team and leading the team, we’ve been well across this for a period of time,” Greenberg said.

The CEO also said that Gardner will remain as the team’s vice-captain, despite Wright publicly questioning if the player’s conduct was leadership-worthy.

“I think if you’re privileged enough to represent your country and be seen as a role model, there’s a responsibility to hold yourself to a high moral standard,” Wright told the Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

“Captains are expected to set the standard, and that kind of conduct falls well short of it.”

Addressing Wright’s statements, the Cricket Australia CEO said “additional guardrails” would be brought in for personal relationships among team members and staff.

“Ash is our vice-captain for a reason, because she’s highly regarded, but what we will do 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,” he said.

“It’s a very personal matter for (Gardner) and I think there’s a level of respect that needs to go with that.”

Gardner and Voll were both key members of the Aussie XI that won the Twenty20 World Cup in London in July.

Voll has not publicly addressed the scandal yet.

Gardner has been a staple of the national cricket team for the best part of a decade and is currently vice-captain to Sophie Molineux.

The cheating allegations come just over a year after Gardner married Wright in a secluded Blue Mountains retreat after they met on a dating app in 2020.