Steve Smith on ball tampering saga: Banned Australian captain was involved in an extended interaction with the Australia media in Sydney.
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“I don’t want to know about it,” banned Australia captain Steve Smith said after he heard the idea of tampering with the ball for the first attempt.
After an advertisement video of his for Vodafone released yesterday, Smith interacted with the media for the first time after being banned by Cricket Australia today. In which was a much-awaited day for the media, Smith spoke at length about how he could have stopped the the whole fiasco, the tough times which he faced and preparation for the upcoming Ashes.
“In the room I walked past something [the idea of tampering with the ball] and had the opportunity to stop it and I didn’t do it and that was my leadership failure,” he said about failing as a leader. “It was a potential for something to happen. It went out and happened on the field. I had the opportunity to stop it rather than say I didn’t want to know anything about it. That was my failure of leadership for that and I have taken responsibility for that.
“Instead, I said ‘I don’t want to know about it and walked away.’ So, that was my chance where I could have stopped something from happening. That’s something I have learned over the last nine months. Every decision you make can have a negative outlook. If things go pear-shaped what’s it going to look like… If things go well, what’s that going to look like. Now it’s about learning and almost slowing your thinking down and ensuring you make the right decisions more often than not,” he added.
Smith further added that it was the first time that something of this capacity had happened under his nose. “As far as I’m concerned and aware, that was the first time that it had happened. I can’t really judge what other teams around the world do. I know that in any game that you play you want the ball to try and move at some point in the game. You want to do it in a legal way and allow it to play its course that way,” he said.
After the incident, fans back home gave the impression of being utterly unhappy with the Australian captain’s deeds. Their reaction was one of the major reason behind Cricket Australia banning them. Asked about the same, Smith said that the reaction from the public has been positive but he is looking forward to do more to regain their trust.
“[The reaction from the Australians] has been positive. The Australian public has been really kind… and yeah I guess slightly forgiving. I still got a lot of work to do to earn back the trust and respect of the Australian public and I’ll continue to do that,” he said.
“I’ve had tough days, I’ve had my ups and downs. But I’ve been really fortunate to have a close group of people around me to help me through those difficult times. There have been some dark days where I haven’t wanted to get out of bed and things like that. But I’ve had a close group of people around me to help me know that it’s okay. I’ve made a mistake and it was a big mistake and I’m trying to move on from that and improve as a person,” he said about how his close ones helped him in which was a ‘dark’ phase of his life.
Smith’s ban will end in the last week of March. With ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and The Ashes looming ahead, Smith will have to be prepared for Australia’s two biggest competitions in cricket. On being asked about the same, he was quoted, “I’m just moving forward day to day, doing what I need to do to prepare to hopefully get another opportunity to play for Australia.
If that’s the World Cup and Ashes so be it. No doubt the English crowd will be incredibly hostile. But I’m ready for that if it happens. But nothing is for certain. I’ll keep working hard. If I get that opportunity again, it’ll be great.
“At the moment, the next three months is all about preparing as well as I can to hopefully be part of the World Cup and the Ashes.”
Smith also threw accolades at current Australia captain Tim Paine for his leadership in a crisis situation for the team. “I think Tim Paine has done an exceptional job and Aaron Finch taking over the one-day side… he’s had a tough start to that probably because of the performances of the team I guess. If I get back and play under them, I’ll do everything I can to help them out and help Australia out to have success,” he concluded.
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