Steve Smith reveals impact of ball-tampering scandal ahead of first South Africa Test – ‘traumatic’

Steve Smith will play his first Test in South Africa in over 8 years since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. The ex-Australia captain opened up on lingering camera anxiety from that ‘traumatic’ ban, admitting flashbulbs still bring back memories of Cricket Australia's verdict against him.

Steve Smith, former Australian captain, will play his first Test on South African soil in more than eight years in October.

Controversy rocked the cricketing world the last time Australia played a Test series in South Africa in March 2018, as Steve Smith, along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, were involved in the infamous ball-tampering scandal during the third Test in Cape Town.

During the match, TV cameras pointed at Bancroft, who was seen using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball.

The then vice-captain Warner was later identified as the mastermind behind the incident, while Smith also admitted to being aware of it. The three players were then handed lengthy bans. While Smith and Warner were handed 12-month bans, Bancroft was suspended for nine months.

Steve Smith recently spoke on returning to South Africa for a Test series and how he tries to forget the infamous incident.

“I’m not a big fan of cameras... I get anxious around cameras, to be honest,” 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. The 24-48 hours of being told by James Sutherland (then Cricket Australia chief executive) that I was getting banned for a year.

“That and going through the airport in Johannesburg, getting absolutely mobbed, and then flying back and doing that press conference. I still have little flashbacks here and there of it,” he added.

He recalled being in a difficult state of mind during the early days of the controversy. “It was certainly a difficult period, particularly the initial period, a few days after. The mental state I was in was not great. That’s somewhere I’d rather not go again, but I certainly learned from it and have been able to move forward with my life. I can’t remember a lot about the series. I’ve tried to block most of it out of my memory bank,” explained the 37-year-old.

Smith was repeatedly booed by fans during the 2019 ODI World Cup in England. During Australia's match against India, the then-captain Virat Kohli urged fans not to boo Smith.

“It’s something I’m kind of used to. 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,” stated the Sydney-born cricketer.

Durban will host the first Test between South Africa and Australia from 9 October, before the two teams travel to Gqeberha for the second Test from 18 October. Cape Town will host the third and final Test from 27 October. Before the Test series, the two teams will play a three-match ODI series starting from 24 September.

PN Vishnu is a contributor with the LiveMint Sports team, where he primarily covers cricket, football and other major sporting events. A passionate sports journalist with nearly a decade of experience in digital media, Vishnu has been an ardent follower of sports for more than 10 years. While he enjoys covering a wide range of disciplines, his biggest sporting passions remain cricket and football. He is also a devoted supporter of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and Manchester United in English football. Vishnu pursued a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, in 2016 and graduated in 2017. Since then, he has built an extensive career in sports journalism, working with leading media organisations including Deccan Chronicle and Firstpost. In 2025, he worked for CricXtasy for six months before joining LiveMint in February 2026. Over the years, he has reported extensively on marquee sporting events such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Indian Super League (ISL). His reporting has also provided opportunities to interact with some of the game's leading personalities, including India cricketers Yuzvendra Chahal and Dhruv Jurel. Away from the newsroom, Vishnu enjoys unwinding with books, discovering new music and binge-watching television series.