Things came to a standstill, as a tearful and inconsolable Steve Smith faced up to the press post h𒐪is disgraceful return from South Africa, after💦 the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test.
Steve Smith and David Warner have been given 12 months b꧋an, while Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month ban from Cricket Australia.
During the press conference in Sydney, Smith tearfully asked for forgiveness from his fans and the Australian people. “To all of my teammates, fans of cricket all over the world and to all Australians who are disappointed and angry … I’m sorry,” Smith said.
The fallen captain said he was “absolutely gutted”, and that he would regret what had happened “for the rest of my life”.
“I hope in time I can earn back respect and forgiveness,” Smith added.
Cricket fraternity reacted on Twitter after Steve Smith’s apology at the press conference.
Here are some of the tweets:
I may be getting emotional but doesn’t look to𝔉 me a cheat. Don’t know about u but I see in him a desperate leader trying to win a Test match for his country, his team. Yes, indeed, his methods were questionable but let’s not label him corrupt
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir)
Feel sorry for dad (in pic) other family members. Hope media n Aussie public go easy on them as families can be soft targets. More than d ban living wid this feeling of being called a cheat is a bigger ♏punishment.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir)
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45)
//t﷽witter.com/shoaib100mph/status/97934804꧑9398034432
DEVASTATING!
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23)
‘Good people make mistakes’ .. I honestly think Steve Smith & Cam Bancroft🦄 are decent guys who had a moment of madness .. they deserve a 2nd chance and hopefully get the right support around them now .. Takes a lot guts to do what they did today ..
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93)
Fa🦩ir play🐽 Bancroft and Steve Smith taking it head on and fronting up. That was hard to watch and can’t imagine what they’re going through .People make mistakes but being able to own up and take responsibility takes guts.
— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13)
Hope in time I can earn forgiveness says Steve Smith.
He has already got mine.
Cricketers have done worse & never admi𓃲tted their guilt.— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar)
Feel the pain he is going through. Waiting for him to come back soon and cause delight to fans across the world wiꩵth his supreme batsmanship. Remember Warne꧅ served a 1 year ban for a banned substance and came back with 26 wkts in 3 tests against SL.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif)
So very hard to watch, well done Smithy and Bangas, horrible to see the pain they are in! They did wr💯ong but will be back bigger and be﷽tter!
— Ryan Harris (@r_harris413)
Just bloody awful! The boy is distraught and devastate♋d! Smith will come back and he will be bigger and better!
— Dean Jones AM (@ProfDeano)
//twitter.com/KP24/status/979300760856027136
//twitter.com/Mitc🍒h🤪Johnson398/status/979280408217923584
Genuine, raw and emoti♔onal. A strikingly contrite r♊esponse to the hysteria, outrage and vitriol clogging up the feeds. I could barely keep it together watching that. A bad mistake won’t define for me the character I’ve seen for a decade. Good human, bad choice. Still a good human
— Peter Nevill (@pmnevill)
Heartbreaking to watch Smith and Bancroft…hopefully this is the end of it all now!!
— Charlotte Edwards (@C_Edwards23)
Tough watching the Smith and Bancroft press conferences this morning. A hard & painful faᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚll. The next 12 months will be a more about whether they can mentally come back & whether the Aussies 𒁃can forgive. Tough thing to overcome.
— Ebony-Jewel Raไinford-Brent MBE (@ejrainfordbrent)
You gave us a lot of joy with the bat, Steve….it’s unfortunate and devastating to see this. Hope you bounce back stronger.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Really feel sorry for him, a one year ban is a bit harsh…. hopefully all this is over now!
— Marizanne Kapp (@kappie777)
Kudos for taking it on the chin
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)