Darren Sammy supports Steve Smith, asks media to move on and forgive ex-Australia captain

Banned Steve Smith has received support from the former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, who wants media to stop painting the ex-Australia captain in poor light for his involvement in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year.

Smith, who is set to return to competitive cricket with the Canadian T20 League, was recently subjected to ridicule in Australian media with one newspaper publishing his photograph of drinking a beer in a New York pub with the headline ‘Disgraced Smith a sad sight in New York’.

Sammy, who will be Smith’s captain when Toronto Nationals face Vancouver Knights in the opening match of tournament, believes its high time media stopped tormenting the Australia cricketer.

“As a Christian, you commit sins; there are punishments for your sins. [It] doesn’t mean everything is okay, but there’s always forgiveness after you’ve committed your sins and paid the price, and you move on. Like we said, they’ve done that. They’ve missed out on IPL, they’ve been sacked and all that stuff, but at the end of the day life goes on,” Sammy said at a media interaction ahead of the inaugural match of Global T20 Canada.

“It’s truly up to you guys (the media). I saw an article, recently, about something in New York. That’s not called for. You’ve made your point. I think, as sportsmen, we want to do the right things, set the example for the next generation. We will make mistakes, but it doesn’t mean you’ve got to keep kicking a man when he’s down. That’s not the humane way to do things, and I think there’s a right to punish but there’s also a right to forgive and move on,” he added while speaking during a media interaction.

Fellow West Indian Chris Gayle, who will be leading Vancouver Knights, sympathised with Smith and David Warner, who will be representing Winnipeg Hawks in the league.

“They’ve already paid a penalty for what they’ve done, and just for them to go on with their lives and have some fun, just like any other cricketer, to fulfill and work for the family, and they can actually provide on the table for them. People make mistakes, you have to give people a chance, and everybody should have to try on from this situation, and rest it to the grave,” Gayle said.

Both Smith and Warner are serving a 12-month suspension from international cricket due to their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal that broke out during the Cape Town Test. Cameron Bancroft was another Australian who was banned (for nine months) following his involvement in the episode.