Former Australia skipper Steve Smith has revealed that he spent nearly four days crying after the ball-tampering scandal, which saw him, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft face sanctions from Cricket Australia and ICC.
Smith and Warner were handed a ban of one year each, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months. Both Warner and Smith are now part of the Global T20 Canada League that will start next month.
Smith has decided to donate his match fees to 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.”
In his international career, Smith has played 64 Tests and scored 6,199 runs, at an average of 61.37.