After arriving home in Australia, Steve Smith addressed the media regarding the ball-tampering saga that saw him stripped off of his role as the captain of Australia. Smith was visibly broken by what had happened and broke down into tears during the conference.

Smith stated that it was a failure on his behalf and that he takes full responsibility for how the events turned out.

"I want to make clear that as captain of the Australian cricket team, I want to take full responsibility. I made an error of judgment and I accept the consequences. It was a failure of leadership, my leadership," Smith said.

Smith also hopes that the ball-tampering incident will be a lesson from which others can learn. The former Australia captain also added that regret about this incident will scar him for the rest of his life.

"If any good can come of this and I can be a lesson to others, I hope I can be a force for change. I will regret this for the rest of my life. I'm absolutely gutted. I hope in time I can earn back respect and forgiveness. Cricket is the greatest game in the world. It’s been my life and I hope it will be again."

He also promised that such an incident will never happen again and also refrained from blaming David Warner for being the mastermind behind the incident.

"To my knowledge, this has never happened before. It is the first time, and it will never happen again.

"I don't blame anyone. I'm the captain, it's on my watch and I take responsibility for what happened in Cape Town.

After that, when speaking about how this incident affected his parents, he broke down inconsolably and had to recollect himself to continue speaking.

"The other thing is anytime you think about making a questionable decision, you think about whom you are affecting. You think about your parents, to see the way my old man is standing [breaks down] and my mum I'm sorry I can't remember [the question]. I just want to say I'm sorry, sorry for the pain I've brought to Australia and the public."