Steve Smith’s classy contribution to helping save lives

STEVE Smith “spent four days in tears” after the ball tampering scandal, which he revealed after being hit by an unexpectedly terrible truth.

Just because he’s not playing cricket, it doesn’t mean Steve Smith can’t have an impact.

THE classrooms of Menai High School are a long way from the MCG on Boxing Day.

But even though Steve Smith left his teachers and fellow students behind nearly 15 years ago to chase his dream of becoming a professional cricketer, the reality is — at least for the next 10 months — he’ll be doing a lot more good standing in front of school kids than he will in the centre of Australian sport’s most hallowed turf.

Smith and Aussie vice-captain David Warner received 12-month bans from all international and domestic cricket for their role in the ball tampering scandal that exploded in South Africa in March, while Cameron Bancroft copped a nine-month suspension.

Apart from an emotional press conference upon his return Down Under where he broke down while apologising to Australians and cricket fans everywhere, the 29-year-old has largely stayed out of the spotlight.

He spent time in New York with his fiancee before announcing his return home in an Instagram post early last month where he said he was determined to earn back Australia’s trust.

Read: Smith’s vow to Australia

He won’t be able to do that on the cricket field — at least not in his home country, although he will return to cricket in a T20 tournament in Canada. But he will be able to win back respect in school — and he’s already started doing that.

As part of his punishment from Cricket Australia, the ex-Aussie skipper needs to do some community service. So his manager Warren Craig reached out to Gus Worland, co-host of Triple M Sydney breakfast radio show The Grill Team, who founded the charity Gotcha 4 Life.

Smith and Warner are on the road to redemption.

Gotcha 4 Life aims to raise awareness of the importance of mental health among Australian males, and according to its website, has “the goal of saving lives and making a significant impact in raising the mental state of boys, men and their families”.

Worland met with Smith to discuss his charity’s work to see if he’d like to be involved.

“He (Smith) didn’t realise the number one killer of young men in Australia is actually suicide,” Worland said on The Grill Team on Monday. “He was shocked by that, as most people are when they hear that stat that we lose six Australian men every single day (to suicide) between the ages of 15-44.”

So Smith agreed to jump on board and last week headed back to his old stomping ground of Menai High in Sydney’s south, where he shared his tumultuous recent journey with students to teach them it’s OK to be honest and vulnerable.

He’s planning on visiting many more schools and on Monday spoke at the prestigious Knox Grammar on Sydney’s north shore.

“To be honest, I probably spent four days in tears,” Smith told students. “I was really struggling mentally and I was really lucky that I had some close friends and family members that I could speak to at all hours of the day.

“The people that I had supporting me through that whole time made a huge difference to the head space I am in now.”

Visited Menai High School today, the school of @steve_smith49. Thank you to Headmaster Barney Ellevsen for welcoming us & allowing us to talk @gotcha4life, vulnerability, being honest and owning our mistakes & learning from them with the students and staff. pic.twitter.com/afn9aF2qih

— Gus Worland (@GusWorland) June 1, 2018

@knoxgrammar hosted @stevesmith49 and I today! @Gotcha_4_Life message that you learn from your mistakes when you are true and honest. Amazing time for the boys to enjoy and learn including these year 6 prep Boys! pic.twitter.com/3cM8rSW95c

— Gus Worland (@GusWorland) June 4, 2018

Smith knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom. He was public enemy number one — alongside Warner and Bancroft — when it was revealed he failed to dissuade his teammates from illegally scuffing up the ball in the third Test in Cape Town.

But Australia’s heart melted when it saw a shattered Smith in tears, his father’s hand on his shoulder, accepting blame and promising to be a better man when he touched down in Sydney in late March.

“I said, ‘You’ve got a very powerful message, Steve, because the honesty and the vulnerability that you showed when you arrived back in Australia was quite amazing,’” Worland said. “The way that you were just so open to the Australian public and I think Australians then decided, ‘We can’t wait for you to come back and have some redemption.’”

There were worries for the mental wellbeing of Smith, Warner and Bancroft after their very public condemnation. Anger soon turned to concern and the sentiment was one of empathy as the Aussie public warned of treating the stars too harshly for fear it would ruin them off the field as well as on it.

There’s more to Steve Smith than just scoring runs.

Worland said Smith was holding up well and, importantly, realised that as big an impact as he had on young people as a cricketer, he had just as significant a part to play in acting as a role model during his time away from the game.

“He’s in much better shape now than he was perhaps even a month ago. He spent some time with his fiancee,” Worland said. “I think he’s planning now and getting himself fit to get back into it.

“Believe me, I have never seen a guy look so happy than back at his old school on Friday, and the fact he realised that open and honest conversation he had to all those year 10, 11 and 12 boys had such an influence on them.

“And then hanging around after chatting, taking photographs, (being) with his old teachers. It was just one of those really magical moments.

“I think he realises then that he made a lot of people happy as a cricketer, but he’s actually going to save boys’ lives doing what he’s doing now and I couldn’t be happier and prouder to have him as part of Gotcha 4 Life.”

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