Eight years after the infamous Cape Town Test of 2018, Steve Smith returns to the venue that shaped him in more ways than one. The former captain was at the centre of one of the darkest chapters in Australian cricket when he, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were caught tampering with the ball in what came to be known as the ‘Sandpapergate’.
Much has changed since Australia and South Africa last played a Test at the Newlands. Smith has served a year-long ban, returned to captain Australia as a stand-in, won two World Cups and announced his retirement from ODIs. Ahead of the third-Test decider, Smith finds himself in the hot seat again. He is battling neck issues, and runs have been hard to come by. To top it all, Cape Town is less than 24 hours away.
Faf du Plessis, who was a contemporary of Smith’s in Cape Town when the scandal broke out, has not forgotten the Australian’s kindness in the years before ‘Sandpapergate’, empathising with the 100-Test veteran.
“Steve came out at the end of the day saying: ‘I take responsibility.’ And we were like: ‘Why are you taking responsibility? You did nothing wrong,’” recalled du Plessis on Cricinfo’s Cricketers on Cricketers podcast.
“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.”
While Smith paid a heavy price for his actions, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. Many have forgiven him for what transpired at Newlands. While he was booed on some occasions, others stood up for him, including Virat Kohli during the India-Australia clash at the 2019 World Cup.
Du Plessis recalls Smith’s empathy
Du Plessis is well placed to understand Smith’s plight. In 2016, he found himself in a similar situation, having been found guilty of ball-tampering during a Test against Australia. Cameras caught du Plessis applying saliva mixed with residue from a mint to shine the ball. Back then, when du Plessis found himself in hot water, support came from an unexpected source.
“At the time, in our dressing room, honestly, we thought nothing has happened badly. 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,” added du Plessis.
“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.”
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