I had the opportunity to stop it, I didn't do it,' Smith reveals more details of ball-tampering scandal

Steve Smith has opened up for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal in March that led to him being banned by Cricket Australia for a year. 

In his first media address since facing the journalists at the Sydney Airport on return from South Africa, the former Aussie skipper Smith admitted there were some dark days where he didn’t want to get out of bed. But he said he was glad he had a close group of people around him to help him know that he has just made a mistake, apologised and he must move on.

“I’m going OK. I’ve had tough days, I’ve had my ups and downs. But I’ve been really fortunate to have a close group of people around me to help me through those difficult times,” he told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“There have been some dark days where I haven’t wanted to get out of bed and things like that. But I’ve had a close group of people around me to help me know that it’s OK. I’ve made a mistake and it was a big mistake and I’m trying to move on from that and improve as a person," Smith added.

He revealed crucial details of the ball tampering. He said he had discovered the plan when he overheard a conversation in the team’s dressing room at Newlands. 

“I think it’s been documented pretty heavily, sort of, what went on. For me in the room, I walked past something and had the opportunity to stop it and I didn’t do it and that was my leadership failure. It was the potential for something to happen and it went on and happened out in the field.

I had the opportunity to stop it at that point rather than say, ‘I don’t want to know anything about it’ and that was my failure of leadership. And you know I’ve taken responsibility for that," a guilty Smith said.

Smith refused to name the players involved but repeated that he had told them, “I don’t want to know about it”, and then walked away.

For his involvement in the ball-tampering plan deliberately tp bring in the foreign object (sandpaper) to artificially alter the condition of the ball in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town earlier this year, Smith and his deputy were slammed with a ban of one year each. Cameron Bancroft, who executed the plan, was given a nine-month ban. 

Smith's ban is expected to end in March 2019 and his first possible assignment with the national team could be the ICC Cricket World Cup in the UK. 

“I’m just moving forward day to day, doing what I need to do to prepare to hopefully get another opportunity to play for Australia and if that’s the World Cup and Ashes, so be it.

No doubt the English crowd will be incredibly hostile. I’m ready for that if that happens. I’ll keep working hard and if I get that opportunity again, that’d be great," Smith said.

While serving his ban, Smith has played in T20 competitions in Canada and the Caribbean featured for Sutherland in NSW Premier Cricket and has batted in the nets against Australia’s Test pace trio Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins ahead of the home series against India in November.