Steve Smith thanked his family for helping him in tough times. (Source: Instagram)
Former Australia captain Steve Smith, who is currently serving a one-year ban following the ball-tampering scandal during the Test series against South Africa in March, on Friday said that he is humbled by the amount of support he has received from the fans in the past few weeks. In an Instagram post, the 28-year-old went on to thank his family for supporting him in the tough time.
“It’s great to be back home in Australia. I have had some time away to come to terms with everything and now it’s time to get back into it. The amount of emails and letters I have received has been incredible and I have been extremely humbled by the enormous amount of support you have given me,” the right-hand batsman wrote.
He further went on to say that he still has to do a lot to earn back the trust of people following the controversial incident in Cape Town that caused a massive stir in the cricketing world. “I now have a lot to do to earn back your trust. To my Mum, Dad and Dani you have been my rock through this and I can’t thank you enough. Family is the most important thing in the world and I thank you for your love and support,” the right-hand batsman said.
Apart from Steve Smith, former vice-captain David Warner and youngster Cameron Bancroft were also given bans for their roles in the incident after the investigations carried out by Cricket Australia. The incident occurred when Bancroft was spotted on the camera scratching the ball with a foreign object and then shoving it down his pants. While Warner was handed a one-year ban, and was named as the chief instigator of the “plot”, Bancroft was given a nine-month ban for the incident.