The disgraced Australian cricketer Steve Smith made an impressive comeback on the cricket field as he smashed a half-century in his first competitive match since being banned by Cricket Australia for 12 months after being involved in the infamous ‘sandpaper gate’ scandal that stunned the world earlier this year.
Smith slammed 61 off 41 deliveries to help Toronto Nationals win the inaugural match of the first season of the Global T20 Canada league against Vancouver Knights at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground in Ontario on Thursday.
Batting first, the Knights put up a huge score of 227/4 with the help of Evin Lewis batting exploits as he amassed 96 runs in just 55 balls. Chasing the target, Nationals witnessed an early dismissal lost an early wicket which brought Smith to the crease and he was welcomed with a standing ovation by the supporters.
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Smith and Anton Devcich built a strong partnership of 92 runs for the second wicket and took their team out of trouble and during the course of this partnership, the Australian star also reached his fifty off just 34 deliveries but he got stumped at an individual score of 61. Devcich remained unbeaten on 92 (44 balls) as Toronto got over the line with 6 wickets and 4 balls to spare.
Following this victory, Smith said, “I’ve had times, particularly watching the boys play in England — and not play as well as they could have and England play extremely well — it was hurting me that I couldn’t go out and help them … win games. And when they hopped on the plane to go over there I had some emotions that were a bit down. It’s been tough but, you know, I think I needed a break if that makes sense.”
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As quoted in Fairfax media, Steve further added, “It’s obviously come under some ordinary circumstances but I was really mentally fatigued after the Ashes. I think back to the one-day games after the Ashes and I don’t think I’ve ever hit the ball that bad in my life. I was making horrible decisions and just felt horrible at the crease. A bit of a break perhaps isn’t the worst thing.”
