Steve Smith has opened up about the mental struggle and deep lows that followed Australia’s cheating scandal in Cape Town, saying he spent four days in tears.
The disgraced former Australian cricket captain, who was dumped from the team for his role in the ball-tampering scandal, revealed he was ‘really struggling mentally’.
The former skipper spoke to Year Six students at Sydney’s Knox Grammar School on Monday as part of his charity work with the Gotcha 4 Life Foundation.
Smith was a guest speaker for Gotcha 4 Life Foundation at Knox Grammar School, in north-west Sydney, on Monday, where he was encouraged to speak about his mental health, career, wellbeing, and relationships
‘I probably spent four days in tears. I was really struggling mentally,’ Smith told the assembled crowd during a discussion about mental health.
‘It certainly was the toughest thing that I’ve had to do.’
Smith told the students to always have a support system nearby where they could share their feelings, anxieties, and challenges.
He said having people around him supporting him helped him mentally and put him in a different headspace.
‘The people that I had supporting me through that whole time made a huge difference to the headspace I’m in now,’ Smith said.
Smith and David Warner, both stripped of their leadership positions and estimated to have lost at least $5 million each in sponsorship and playing contracts, remain banned from international cricket until March.
The suspensions also cover domestic T20, one-day and first-class cricket in Australia but the disgraced duo, along with Cameron Bancroft, are free to play in leagues around the world.
Warner will hit the track, gym and nets this month during some sessions with NSW, who returned to work on Monday following their off-season break.
‘The people that I had supporting me through that whole time made a huge difference to the headspace I’m in now,’ Smith said
The 28-year-old was stripped of the captaincy and handed a 12-month suspension from international cricket for his role in the Cape Town Test ball-tampering scandal.
He admitted to having knowledge of the plan but failed to stop Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to tamper with the ball on the third day of the third Test against South Africa.
Smith and David Warner were stripped of the captaincy and vice-captaincy and banned from all cricket for 12 months, while Cameron Bancroft received a nine month ban.
The three players admitted premeditated cheating when they planned ball-tampering in the Third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
An emotional Smith at the press conference after the ball tampering incident in March