‘I cried for four days’ - Steve Smith opens up about ball-tampering scandal

Former Australia cricket team captain skipper Steve Smith has admitted that he spent nearly four days in tears after the ball tampering saga unfolded, which saw him, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft face sanctions from Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council.

While Warner and Smith have been banned for a year each, Bancroft has been suspended for nine months from international cricket. Cricket Australia had also ruled out possibilities of Warner leading the side in future. Warner and Smith, however are both part of the Global T20 Canada league that will get underway next month.

READ | This day that year - Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’ completes 25 years

Smith has been roped in as a marquee player by Toronto Nationals with the batsman committing to donate his entire match fees to community cricket projects in Australia and Canada.

Speaking at Sydney’s Knox Grammar School for the Gotcha 4 Life Foundation, Smith stated: “To be honest, I probably spent four days in tears. I was really struggling mentally and I was really lucky that I had some close friends and family members that I could speak to at all hours of the day,” an audio obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald revealed. “The people that I had supporting me through that whole time made a huge difference to the head space I am in now.”

READ | ‘F*** it’ - Jos Buttler writes bizarre message on bat handle during Pakistan Test

There are several top names that will take part in the league, including Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Shahid Afridi, Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine. The tournament will conclude on July 15.

Squads

Toronto Nationals: Darren Sammy, Steve Smith, Kieron Pollard, Kamran Akmal, Hussain Talat, Rumman Raees, Nikhil Dutta, Johnson Charles, Kesrick Williams, Naved Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Farhan Malik, Nitish Kumar, Usama Mir, Rohan Mustafa, Mohammad Umair Ghani. Coach: Phil Simmons

Vancouver Knights: Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Evin Lewis, Tim Southee, Chadwick Walton, Fawad Ahmed, Babar Hayat, Sheldon Cottrell, Saad Bin Zafar, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Srimantha Wijeratne, Kamau Leverock, Steven Jacobs, Salman Nazar, Rassie van der Dussen, Jeremy Gordon. Coach: Donovan Miller

Edmonton Royals: Shahid Afridi, Chris Lynn, Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Christiaan Jonker, Wayne Parnell, Asif Ali, Hasan Khan, Agha Salman, Shaiman Anwar, Ammar Khalid, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Ahmed Raza, Simon Pervez, Abraash Khan. Coach: Mohammad Akram

Montreal Tigers: Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Hafeez, Denesh Ramdin, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sikandar Raza, Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana, George Worker, Najibullah Zadran, Cecil Pervez, Ibrahim Khaleel, Dillon Heyliger, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyan Pathan. Coach: Tom Moody

Winnipeg Hawks: Dwayne Bravo, David Miller, David Warner, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Rayad Emrit, Ben McDermott, Ali Khan, Hamza Tariq, Junaid Siddiqui, Tion Webster, Rizwan Cheema, Hiral Patel, Mark Deyal, Kyle Phillip. Coach: Waqar Younis