Disgraced Aussie skipper Steve Smith still the talk of Global T20 Canada

TORONTO — Disgraced former Australian cricket captain Steve Smith dominated talk Wednesday on the eve of the Global T20 Canada tournament.

Smith and former Australia vice-captain David Warner are both taking part in the inaugural Canadian competition which starts Thursday and runs through July 15. Both are serving a year’s suspension from Cricket Australia for their part in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa but are allowed to play club cricket abroad.

Warner is a member of the Winnipeg Hawks team at the tournament.

Toronto Nationals captain Darren Sammy and Vancouver Knights skipper Chris Gayle met the media at an airport hotel on the eve of their tournament opener Thursday at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club north of Toronto in King City.

Six of the 12 questions the West Indies stars faced — most from Australian reporters — were about Smith, a member of the Toronto entry.

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Sammy, who previously had said any captain would want a batsman like Smith on his team, reiterated how impressed he was at Smith taking responsibility for his actions.

“As a Christian, you commit sins. There are punishments for your sins,” Sammy said. “It doesn’t mean everything is OK. But there’s always forgiveness after you commit your sins and you’ve paid the price. And you move on.

“They’ve done that. They missed out on IPL (their hefty Indian Premier League contracts were cancelled). They’ve been sacked and all that stuff. But at the end of the day life goes one … As sportsmen we want to do the right thing, set the example for the next generation. And we will make mistakes. But it doesn’t mean you’ve got to kick a man when he’s down. That’s not the human way to do things. I think there’s a right to punish but there’s also a right to forgive and move on.”

Asked what was going through Smith’s mind, Sammy said he had spoken to him about his role on the team.

“As to what’s going (on) in his mind, I think it’s only Jesus could tell you what’s going in a man’s mind. But he looks ready.” 

Sammy said he chose Smith for his team “because he knows how to win cricket matches.”

Gayle said the two players had paid a penalty and should be allowed to get on with their lives.

“People make mistakes. You have to give people a chance and everybody should try to move on from this situation.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press