Steve Smith marked his return to cricket with a fine batting display for Toronto Nationals in their match against Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada. The suspended former Australia captain helped his side clinch a 6-wicket victory in the tournament opener.

Smith was playing his first competitive match since the ball-tampering scandal in March. Although he belted a half-century to set the stage for his team’s win, Smith revealed that he was nervous on his return to the competitive arena. He also talked about his charity works during his three-month break from cricket.

“I normally don't get real nervous before I play but I'll be real honest, I was a bit nervous today,” he said.

“You know, three months off and I haven't hit that many balls back home, I've had a couple of nets but I haven't had a hit on turf. A hit indoors yesterday and it felt pretty good and had a bit of luck today and I didn't feel as good as I probably ever had, but it's nice to score some runs when you're not feeling good.”

“I know all the people back home would be really proud of me playing here for the reasons I'm here as well. So it's nice to be out in the middle. The last couple of months having some time off, I've been fortunate to do some really good work with Gotcha For Life and Gus Worland, talking about the mental health space and manning up and being vulnerable. Sometimes it's okay to not be okay and things like that.

“It's been quite therapeutic for myself, but also I think a lot of the kids at the schools that I've gone to, I know we've made a big difference so far and that's made me feel good in a way, and I'm going to do a lot more of that work when I get back home. I've been fortunate I've had the close people to me to get through what was a pretty difficult time in my life,” Smith added.

Smith reflected on how mental exhaustion led him into making horrible decisions following the Ashes. Australia had been defeated 4-1 in five-match ODI series after the Ashes and maybe that resulted in desperation to win at any cost when the team wasn’t really striking the right notes in the next series.

He said: “It's been tough but, you know, I think I needed a break if that makes sense. It's obviously come under some ordinary circumstances but I was really mentally fatigued after the Ashes. I put so much work into the Ashes, and I think back to the one-day games after the Ashes and I don't think I've ever hit the ball that bad in my life.

“I was making horrible decisions and I just felt horrible at the crease. I think it all comes down to the mental part of the game and I put so much into the Ashes that it took so much out of me. A bit of a break perhaps isn't the worst thing. Hopefully I'll be able to come back and perform at a really high level gain, but we'll see what happens.”

Smith has started his campaign in Canada on a positive note. Despite being thrown under a truckload of runs, Smith made 61 runs and stitched a 91-run stand with Anton Devcich, who steered the team to victory with an unbeaten knock of 92 runs.

Batting first, Vancouver rode on a 96-run innings from Evin Lewis followed by another quick-fire fifty from Andre Russell and posed a daunting total of 227 runs. In reply, Smith and Devcich pulled off a successful chase as Toronto won the game with 4 balls to spare.