Steve Smith Still Haunted by 'Sandpapergate' Scandal

Steve Smith, the Australian cricket batter, stated that he continues to experience trauma and flashbacks from the 2018 'sandpapergate' ball-tampering scandal. The incident led to Smith being stripped of the captaincy and banned for one year by Cricket Australia.

Smith, along with vice-captain David Warner and player Cameron Bancroft, was sent home from South Africa in 2018. Bancroft was caught tampering with the ball using sandpaper during a Test match against South Africa. Smith later admitted to knowing about the plan. Bancroft received a nine-month ban, while Warner also received a one-year suspension.

At the time, Australia's then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called the affair a disappointment to the nation. Smith broke down in tears during a press conference at Sydney airport following the revelations, describing it as a "traumatic experience."

"I'm not a big fan of cameras, I get anxious around cameras," Smith told News Corp. "That was a traumatic experience in my life and when I hear the flash of a camera it makes me revisit that, in a way."

Smith recalled the 24 to 48 hours after being informed of his ban, and the intense media attention. "I felt like I was kind of thrown to the wolves through [Johannesburg] airport. I didn't have any support there at all," he said.

He has since returned to the Australian team in 2019 and re-established himself as a prominent player. After serving a two-year leadership ban, he was appointed vice-captain before the 2021-22 Ashes series and has occasionally captained the team in Pat Cummins's absence.

"It was certainly a difficult period, particularly the initial few days after," Smith reflected. "The mental state I was in was not great. That's somewhere I'd like not to get to again, but I certainly learned from that and have been able to move forward with my life."

Smith has attempted to distance himself from the events of 2018, stating, "I've tried to kind of erase a lot of 2018 and what happened. I can't remember a lot about the series. I've tried to block most of it out of my memory bank."

He has since played in South Africa again and faced hostile crowds during Ashes tours in England. "It's something I'm kind of used to," Smith said. "I've copped a lot at times away from home, at different venues across my career, and it's something that I take in my own stride. I use it as motivation to try and go out and do well, and try and take a positive from it."

Australia is scheduled to play their first Test series in South Africa since the 2018 scandal, with the first match set to begin on October 9 in Durban.