Cricket star Ash Gardner has broken her silence after being backed in as Australian vice-captain, following scrutiny from her estranged wife Monica Wright.

The couple split this year and the 29-year-old Gardner is now in a relationship with 23-year-old teammate Georgia Voll.

The news emerged last month but had been known for some time among the team, which won the T20 World Cup in July, and Cricket Australia.

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Wright publicly questioned the lack of action by CA, calling attention to “a clear power imbalance” when a senior member of staff has an affair with a junior.

Wright said Gardner should not be allowed to stay as vice-captain and questioned why CA had said nothing on the matter.

CA boss Todd Greenberg confirmed on Thursday they would not strip Gardner of her leadership position, instead adding “some additional guard rails so the perception of conflict” — including selection issues — “are handled appropriately”.

His public comments were followed by Gardner’s first statement on the situation.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Greenberg, speaking on the first day of the men’s Test summer as Australia took on Bangladesh in Darwin, reiterated Gardner “is a highly regarded leader in our system”.

“The CA board make leadership decisions and have oversight on all our leadership decisions,” he told SEN.

“Ash is our vice-captain for a reason because she is highly regarded.

“But what we will do in situation where there are some personal relationships is make sure there are some additional guard rails so the perception of conflict (of interest) and I am talking about things like selection are handled appropriately.

“Outside of that it is a personal matter.

“We will put some additional ones in place now that Ash is vice-captain and if there are relationships that have been disclosed — and there has been — then we will just make sure that either conflicts which are perceived to be or are real around selections are removed so Ash is not involved in those things.

“That allows her to be the captain and the leader we need her to be.”

Greenberg made the point “respect” for all concerned was paramount.

“It is a very personal matter for the player, and I think there’s a level of respect that needs to go with that,” he said.

“Cricket’s got very strong respect-at-work policies, so we’ve got a policy that’s been developed over time that can deal with these sorts of things.”

— with AAP