The fierce and often acrimonious backdrop of international cricket rivalry frequently masks the deep-seated empathy that exists between players who share the unique burden of leading their countries at the highest level. Years after the dark days of the 2018 tour of South Africa, former South African captain Faf du Plessis has opened up about the private message of support he sent to his Australian counterpart, Steve Smith, in the immediate aftermath of the scandal that shook the sport to its core.
The events of March 2018 in Cape Town remain etched in the memory of cricket fans globally. When Steven Smith walked out to face the world’s media at Newlands during the third Test, bearing the heavy weight of impending public disgrace and pleading guilty to ball-tampering charges, he found himself isolated in a storm of worldwide condemnation. Yet, amidst the unprecedented fury directed at the Australian captain, a lifeline of solidarity came from an unexpected source: Faf du Plessis, the very man leading the opposition on the field.
Recalling the tension of that fateful evening, du Plessis reflected on the moment Smith fronted the press. "Steve came out at the end of the day in Cape Town in 2018 saying: ‘I take responsibility.’ And we were like: ‘Why are you taking responsibility? You did nothing wrong,’" du Plessis recalled. At the time, the South African camp viewed the situation through the lens of their own recent disciplinary struggles with the International Cricket Council, failing to foresee the catastrophic fallout that would follow for Australian cricket.
As the media firestorm escalated and intense pressure mounted on Smith, du Plessis immediately recognized the parallels to his own previous controversies. "Straight away, I was like: this is not his doing. This is the same thing as my ball-tampering charge," he noted. Understanding the psychological toll of facing global accusations of cheating, du Plessis reached out to his rival across the dressing room divide. "I remember sending a message and saying: ‘Listen, I’m so sorry you are going through this. Just be strong. It’s going to be a hell for a week or so and then it will probably blow over.’ Never knowing that it was going to be a year for him to go through. But just saying—we’re behind you. We understand you did nothing wrong. So if you need anything from us, we’re here."
The reality of the punishment, however, far exceeded anyone’s initial expectations. While the International Cricket Council ultimately banned Smith for just a single Test match, Cricket Australia elected to impose far more draconian sanctions. In a decision that stunned the cricketing world, Smith was stripped of the national captaincy and suspended from all international and domestic cricket for twelve months. Similar heavy bans were handed down to vice-captain David Warner, while opening batsman Cameron Bancroft—the player who physically attempted to use sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball in the hope that the umpires would change it—received a nine-month suspension.
For du Plessis, stepping forward to offer solace to Smith was also a matter of professional reciprocity. The South African stalwart vividly remembered an incident two years prior during a Test series in Hobart in 2016, where his own integrity was called into question and his actions were openly labeled as cheating by the media. During that difficult period, du Plessis had been deeply grateful that Smith chose to speak up on his behalf rather than exploit the situation for competitive advantage.
"At the time, in our dressing room, honestly, we thought nothing has happened badly," du Plessis explained, reflecting on the 2016 controversy. "Pero cameras were everywhere. And it just got built up into this thing now. All of a sudden, I was in real trouble. It was going around the world, people saying, ‘Cheating.’ That weighs heavy on you."
At that juncture, the Australian team under Smith’s leadership was sitting comfortably with a 2-0 lead in the series following the Adelaide Test. Under intense media questioning, Smith could easily have stoked the fires of controversy to put further pressure on his struggling opponents. Instead, when asked directly about du Plessis and the surrounding "Mintgate" allegations, Smith took a surprisingly empathetic stance, defending his contemporary against the harsh narrative being spun by reporters.
"He was asked: What are your thoughts on Faf du Plessis and Mintgate, and it’s terrible, he’s cheating. And he’s like, no, he’s not," du Plessis recalled with clear admiration. "He’s just shining the ball. I’ve been in many teams where we shine the ball, we use different sweets. We were listening to it on the TV and literally everyone in our group was like, ‘Wow, he doesn’t have to do that.’ That was a choice where he went: I’m going to choose probably the human, the right thing, versus the pressure thing. That was amazing for me to see. I remember just saying that that meant a lot to the South African team and the respect that we got for Steve Smith that day."
Beyond the heavy trials of international leadership and the shared burdens of ball-tampering controversies, the relationship between these two prominent cricketers has also been shaped by a mutual appreciation of their distinct personalities and competitive drives. In a broader conversation alongside former Australian batsman Aaron Finch, du Plessis and Finch swapped colorful anecdotes highlighting some of Smith’s more eccentric and quirky traits that often remain hidden from the public eye.
Among the stories shared was a revealing glimpse into Smith’s uncompromising perfectionism regarding his equipment. Du Plessis and Finch recounted the legendary instance when a bat-maker offered Smith a selection of thirty newly crafted bats for his evaluation. Rather than accepting the standard offering or showing polite gratitude, Smith meticulously inspected each piece of willow before sending back twenty-nine of them, bluntly declaring that they simply were not good enough to meet his exacting standards. This relentless pursuit of excellence, combined with an intense, unyielding competitive spirit—which famously manifests even when he is casually playing backyard or recreational cricket against children, such as an eight-year-old fan—underlines the singular dedication that has defined Smith’s remarkable career in the sport.
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