Steve Smith to donate match fees to grassroots

Banned from International cricket for a year, Steve Smith will make a comeback of sorts to the game when he takes part in the Global T20 Canada League later this month.

According to reports in cricket.com.au, the player has decided to donate all his fees to the development of grassroots cricket in Australia and Canada.

The former captain has also started his 100 hours of community service which was part of the sanction imposed from Cricket Australia, working with an Australia-based male mental health charity.

The tournament commences from June 28 and during his stay in Canada, Smith will be involved in several community cricket initiatives in the country and will be a part of several campaigns which promotes the sport in the country.

Apart from the New South Welshman, other International stars in Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Darren Sammy, Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine, David Miller and Dwayne Bravo will also take part in the month-long tournament.

The Global T20 Canada League will see the participation of six teams - Edmonton Royals, Montreal Tigers, Toronto Nationals, Vancouver Knights and Winnipeg Hawks – along with a sixth team which will consist of players from the West Indies as per the agreement with Cricket West Indies (CWI).

“Global T20 Canada marks the first time a nation with associate member status is launching a league — a major step forward in cricket’s global development,” President of Cricket Canada Ranjit Saini said at the launch of the tournament.

It has to be mentioned here that Smith was named as a marquee player for the aforementioned tournament and his performances in the league will be closely followed by the cricketing world.

The International Cricket Council cricket committee in a meeting last week proposed increased sanctions for ball-tampering in response to the Capetown incident which involved David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft.