In a beautiful gesture, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis has offered some much-needed words of strength to Steve Smith.
The former Australia skipper is perhaps going through the toughest phase of his career following the ball-tampering scandal. In the wake of the sensational incident, Smith was handed a one-match ban by ICC. Cricket Australia then went a step ahead and banned the disgraced skipper for 12 months. Along with Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have also been handed lengthy bans.
On Thursday (March 29), Smith broke down while addressing the media in Sydney. Several eminent personalities from the cricketing fraternity have sympathized with Smith and du Plessis also followed suit.
Speaking on the eve of the fourth Test, du Plessis delivered some words of encouragement for Smith.
“It’s been a crazy week. I have compassion for what he’s going through,” said du Plessis.
“I think he’s one of the good guys and he’s just been caught in a bad place.
added Du Plessis, who has twice been found guilty of ball tampering himself, but was only fined and never banned.
Du Plessis further revealed that he texted Smith, advising him to stay strong.
“I did send him a text. From a really deep place in my heart I feel for the guy. I don’t want to see guys going through that stuff,” he said.
“It’s going to be incredibly hard for him over the next days so I sent him a message of support, saying he’ll get through this and he must be strong.”
The Proteas star went on to say that while the bans imposed on Smith, Warner and Bancroft was harsh, he understood the context of the high values Australians expected from their cricket team.
He also welcomed the announcement by ICC chief executive Dave Richardson that there would be a review of the ICC code of conduct and penalties.
“I think it’s overdue. All we ask for is consistency. There are a lot of grey areas,” said Du Plessis.
Meanwhile, South Africa are leading the four-Test series 2-1.
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