Steve Smith in action during a Test match
Former Australia captain Steve Smith, who is currently serving a ban of 12 months given by Cricket Australia after he was found guilty of ball-tampering in South Africa, turned 29 on Saturday. Despite being away from cricket, Smith remains to be the number one cricketer in the ICC Test Batsmen Rankings.
Heaping praise on the birthday boy for all his achievements, the International Cricket Council (ICC) wished him on Twitter, saying: "He's the number one ranked Test batsman in the world and in 2017 reached a rating of 947, only bettered by the great Sir Don Bradman. Happy birthday @stevesmith49!"
Within no time, the tweet started getting critisising remarks for the right-hand batsman and many netizens went on to call him "cheat" for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal that rocked the cricket world in March.
Smith and former vice-captain David Warner were banned for 12 months by Cricket Australia for masterminding the ball-tampering scandal, while young Cameron Bancroft was given a nine-month ban.
However, the New South Wales batsman will return to cricket with Canadian Twenty20 league, where he has been named as a marquee player. Cricket Australia reported on its website that Smith will join fellow international stars, including Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi, in the six-team tournament beginning June 28.
The Global T20 Canada tournament will have six teams, five representing Canadian cities — Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. The sixth, a Cricket West Indies representative team, will consist entirely of players from the Caribbean, as part of an official partnership with Cricket West Indies (CWI).
Teams will be stocked with players through a draft that will take place on May 31. Four roster spots will be set aside for Canadians, including one for a Canadian under-23 player.
The competition will have 22 matches ending in playoffs and the championship game on July 16. All matches will take place at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in Toronto. (Read full story)
