Mitchell Starc Clears Air Following Misinterpreted Comments on Steven Smith

Speedster Mitchell Starc has elucidated his comments on former Australian skipper Steven Smith with reference to the ball-tampering scandal after the former felt they were misconstrued, via a statement on his website on Saturday (June 9).

Meanwhile, the comments gave the impression of Starc criticising the banned duo of Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft for the press conference held on the third day of the third Test at Cape Town against South Africa.

“Going back to what Sue (Cato, a public relations consultant) said before about being upfront and tackling a problem head-on, that’s something the group who decided to go into a press conference didn’t really think about,” Starc said.

“They obviously didn’t see how big the reaction was going to be at that time and then went down the path of not telling the whole truth and then I guess involving another group, which ruined – well, not ruined – but affected other reputations,” he added referring to the comments made by Smith about the leadership group having had been privy of the plan.

Eventually, Cricket Australia (CA) banned Smith and Warner for 12 months while ball-tamperer Cameron Bancroft got a nine-month ban.

Starc clarifies his comments:

Starc, however, clarified his comments at the forum in the context of another topic. He said that some media houses, unfortunately, lost the context while reporting.

“Despite reports to the contrary, I continue to have utmost respect for Steve Smith as captain, teammate and friend and I look forward to having him back in our great game soon,” Starc wrote on his website. “That goes for David and Cameron who have also been through an extremely tough time. It is good to see all three guys planning to be back in cricket soon in different competitions around the world,” he added.

The bowling spearhead Starc also added gaining back the trust and positive reputation will take some time.

However, he stressed they will do everything to gain that and it has just started.

Mitchell Starc insisted that while it was a tough phase for the team, the relationships amongst the players were intact.

“It was such a stressful time in our lives. There was strain on relationships both as individuals and as a team. However, the relationships of that group remain very much intact. I look forward to the opportunity to play alongside every one of my teammates from that tour again,” he concluded.

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