Faf du Plessis to Steven Smith: 'You did nothing wrong, just be strong'
When Steven Smith was last in Cape Town for a Test, fronting up to the press to plead guilty to ball-tampering charges and dealing with the consequent public ire, he received support from an unexpected source - his rival captain in the series, Faf du Plessis.
"Steve came out at the end of the day [in Cape Town in 2018] saying: 'I take responsibility.' And we were like: 'Why are you taking responsibility? You did nothing wrong,'" recalled du Plessis.
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"And then everything just exploded in terms of the media and how he was being put under pressure. Straight away, I was like: this is not his doing. This is the same thing [as my ball-tampering charge].
"I remember sending a message and saying: 'Listen, I'm so sorry you are going through this. Just be strong. It's going to be a hell for a week or so and then it will probably blow over.' Never knowing that it was going to be a year for him to go through. But just saying… we're behind you. We understand you did nothing wrong. So if you need anything from us, we're here. "
Smith was banned by the ICC for one Test, but Cricket Australia handed him a far harsher punishment, stripping him of the captaincy and banning him for a year, along with vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. The last of those was the one who tried to use sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball in the hope that the umpires would change it.
Du Plessis said that in 2016 in Hobart, when his actions were being described as "cheating", he was grateful that Smith spoke up on his behalf.
"At the time, in our dressing room, honestly, we thought nothing has happened badly," du Plessis said. "But cameras [were] everywhere. And it just got built up into this thing now. All of a sudden, I was in real trouble. It was going around the world, people saying, 'Cheating.' That weighs heavy on you.
Du Plessis said it would have been understandable if Smith, under pressure with Australia 0-2 down in the series after the Adelaide Test, had turned up the heat on him in the post-match press conference.
"He was asked: What are your thoughts on Faf du Plessis and Mintgate, and it's terrible, he's cheating. And he's like, no, he's not. He's just shining the ball. I've been in many teams where we shine the ball, we use different sweets.
"We were listening to it on the TV and literally everyone in our group was like, 'Wow, he doesn't have to do that.' That was a choice where he went: I'm going to choose probably the human, the right thing, versus the pressure thing. That was amazing for me to see. I remember just saying that that meant a lot to the South African team and the respect that we got for Steve Smith that day."
In the episode, Finch and du Plessis also swap stories about Smith's more quirky traits, including the time he sent back 29 out of the 30 bats a bat-maker offered him, saying they were not good enough, and his competitive spirit, even when playing with an eight-year-old fan.
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