An emotional Steve Smith addressed the media upon his arrival in Sydney and apologised for his actions. The now-former captain, along with former vice-captain David Warner, has been handed a ban of one year from international and domestic cricket by Cricket Australia. Youngster Cameron Bancroft, who was actually caught tampering the ball on his seniors' 'order', has been banned for nine months.
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"It was a failure of my leadership," said the 28-year-old.
"I am deeply sorry, I love the game of cricket, I love kids wanting to play the great game of cricket that I love. Any time you think about making a questionable decision, think about affecting your parents.
"To see the way my old man has been, and my mum, it hurts. I just want to say I'm sorry for the pain I have brought to Australia and the fans and the public," he added.
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Here's how the cricketing world reacted on his teary-eyed press conference.
Just seen @stevesmith49’s press conference. As a parent, I’m gutted for him & his family! Shout me down if you want, but I’m speaking as a parent! It will get better mate!
‘Good people make mistakes’ .. I honestly think Steve Smith & Cam Bancroft are decent guys who had a moment of madness .. they deserve a 2nd chance and hopefully get the right support around them now .. Takes a lot guts to do what they did today ..
Sitting in front of the worlds press and admitting your lies & mistakes is taking it head on in my book. They have done wrong they have been punished. Would have been easy to hide behind social media but they didn’t...well two of them didn’t https://t.co/r17Y0OnwW5
Fair play Bancroft and Steve Smith taking it head on and fronting up. That was hard to watch and can’t imagine what they’re going through .People make mistakes but being able to own up and take responsibility takes guts.
Feel the pain he is going through. Waiting for him to come back soon and cause delight to fans across the world with his supreme batsmanship. Remember Warne served a 1 year ban for a banned substance and came back with 26 wkts in 3 tests against SL. https://t.co/u6gE93aPvM
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