I continue to have the utmost respect for Steve Smith, clarifies Mitchell Starc

Earlier this week, Mitchell Starc attended a Women in Banking and Finance forum in Sydney. Starc, who was part of the Australian team on the infamous South Africa tour. commented about the ball-tampering incident that took place in South Africa at the event. By his comments he wanted to give a positive message to everyone, but his comments were taken out of context. 

Starc, in a clarifying statement, has insisted that he has ‘utmost respect’ for Steve Smith and looks forward to playing with the banned trio of Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft. Australia have got their new coach in the form of Justin Langer and new captain Tim Paine. The team has been trying to gain back the trust of public back again in every possible way. Starc stated the team has been in the process of transition and pleaded to all the lovers of the game to give them their support.  

"Despite reports to the contrary, I continue to have the utmost respect for Steve Smith as captain, team-mate and friend and I look forward to having him back in our great game soon," Mitchell said 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. Rebuilding trust and developing a positive reputation will take time and through our actions, we hope to demonstrate this to cricket fans everywhere.

"The process has already started and the focus now should be on the cricket being played and the stories of performance and change in the current series, led by new Aussie coach Justin Langer, captain Tim Paine and the current team over in the UK. To all stakeholders and fans out there, please stick with us. Trust me when I say we all love the game as much as you do!"

Starc also added that the relationships within the Australian Test team were "strained" by the Newlands ball-tampering scandal but ‘remain very much intact’ at the moment.

"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 team-mates from that tour again. We still have a long way to go in rebuilding the trust with the Australian public and I know personally, that I am 100% committed to doing that."