Former South African skipper expects Steve Smith to come back stronger after ban

Australian cricketer Steve Smith is currently serving his one year ban. He, however, is expected to make his comeback to the game in the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada League next week. His international comeback is still quite a long way from now. Amidst this backdrop, former South African skipper Graeme Smith has recently come up with some kind words for Steve Smith.

Graeme Smith, as per the quotes in Sowetanlive, reckoned that Steve will come back as a stronger player after the ban. He remarked that he would love to interview the former Australian captain in the future. He expressed his desire to ask Steve about how his mindset has changed ever since the infamous ball tampering scandal hit the Australian team.

“The Australia team got into that mindset of winning at all costs and the way they play the game. I would love to interview him (Steve) and ask him if that’s something he wishes he had sort of changed a little bit as the leader in terms of the culture, how they play, the win at all cost mindset. And how he’s reviewed that now after the situation. That will be an interesting interview,” Graeme Smith quoted.

“Playing at the top level is competitive, you want to win. He’s still a young man, we have all made mistakes. I expect him to bounce back and come back really strong. Mentally he would have grown a lot from this situation,” the former South African skipper added.

Recalling the incident

Graeme Smith further spoke about how the Test matches can be revived. He noted that the ball plays a major role in the longest format. Drawing relations from the sand paper gate, Smith noted that using saliva or some sweetener to affect the ball is not really a problem. However, taking an external object such as sandpaper on the field is totally unacceptable. He added that he had never seen anything like that happen before.

“Reverse swing has become such a key. What happened in Cape Town was pretty shocking. I’ve never seen an actual foreign object being brought out on the field. It was madness. I think the ICC needs to review that. Whether applying sweetened saliva or using a fingernail… I don’t have a problem with that actually, but I wouldn’t allow foreign objects on the field,” he recalled the incident.

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