MELBOURNE: Nine months into the one-year ban slapped on him by
Cricket
Australia (CA) for his role in the ‘
Sandpapergate
’ in Cape Town earlier this year,
Steve Smith spoke about the “dark days” to the media at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday.
Opening up about his time in wilderness for the first time, following the ball-tampering scandal, Smith revealed that there were days when he didn’t feel like getting out of bed. “I’ve had tough days… I’ve had my ups and downs. There have been some dark days where I haven’t wanted to get out of bed and things like that,” Smith said.
“But I’ve been really fortunate to have a close group of people around me to help me through those difficult times.”
The former Australian captain admitted that he had failed as a leader by not acting in time, but insisted that he had learnt from his mistake and was ready to move on.
“I had the opportunity to stop it (ball-tampering) at that point rather than say, ‘I don’t want to know anything about it’. And that was my failure of leadership. I’ve taken responsibility for that.
“I made a mistake, and it was a big mistake, and I’m trying to move on from that and improve as a person,” he added.
Smith, who was barred from playing international cricket for 12 months, along with David Warner (12 months) and Cameron Bancroft (9 months), has been playing in various T20 leagues in order to keep in touch with the game.
He will turn out for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL next year to tune up for the World Cup which he hopes will mark his return to international cricket.
“Hopefully (I’ll) get another opportunity to play for Australia,” he said. “And if that’s in a World Cup and Ashes, so be it.”
Smith, who cannot hold a leadership position in Australian cricket for two years from the time the ban was imposed, made it clear that returning to the national team is his top priority. “I just want to get back to playing and contributing to the team as much as I can and just help out anyone who is around — Tim (Paine) and (Aaron) Finchy (ODI captain) as well. We’ll see what the future holds,” he added.
Smith, who recently led Sutherland Club to victory in the New South Wales Premier T20 championship and also batted in the nets against Australia’s Test pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, admitted to feeling frustrated after watching his teammates struggle on recent tours, but lauded Paine and his boys for winning the Perth Test against India.
“It’s been tough (watching) at times, particularly when the boys haven’t played their best in a couple of games,” he said. “It’s been hard watching and knowing that I can’t go out and help them.
“But I was really proud of the way the boys played last week in Perth. I thought they were magnificent and I think Tim Paine’s leadership has been exceptional since taking over as captain. He’s obviously been faced with difficult circumstances to begin with, but he’s done a terrific job,” Smith added.