Former Australian skipper Steve Smith, who is serving one year ban in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal, opened up for the first time on the incident.

On Friday, Smith faced the media for the first time since the ‘sandpaper gate’ incident in South Africa that rocked Cricket Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The 30-year-old disgraced Aussie cricketer revealed his version of the events.

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“I think it has been documented pretty heavily what went on,” Smith said, before adding, “For me, I walked passed something and had the opportunity to stop it and I didn’t do it and that was my leadership failure. There was the potential for something to happen and it went out onto the field and I had the opportunity to stop it at that point, rather than say ‘I don’t want to know anything about it.’ That was my failure of leadership and I have taken responsibility for that.”

Smith, who was also once touted to be the next Don Bradman, insisted that this was the first time that he has been aware of ball-tampering going on in the Oz camp.

“As far as I am aware this is the first time and I can’t really judge what other teams around the world have done,” Smith revealed. “In any game you play you want the ball to try and move, but obviously you want to do it in a legal way.”

Speaking about the night before the incident, Smith recalled, “I walked passed and saw it and said, ‘I don’t want to know about it’.” He further said, “That was my chance where I could have stopped something from happening and that is something I have learned over the last nine months.”

Steve Smith further said, “Every decision you make can have a negative outlook if things go pear-shaped and if things go well how does that look. Now it is about learning and almost slowing your thinking down and ensuring you make the right decisions.”

The stylish right-handed batsman also heaped praises on Australian cricket fans.

“The majority have been really positive,” Smith said. “The Australian public has been really kind and, I guess, slightly forgiving but I’ve still got a lot of work to do to earn back the trust and respect of the Australian public and I’ll continue to that.”

Smith also accepted that he had his share of dark days following the incident.

“I’m going ok. I’ve had tough days, I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’ve been really fortunate to have a close group of people around me that have helped me get through those difficult times.”

“There have been some dark days where I haven’t wanted to get out of bed and things like that. But I’ve had a close group around me that have helped me know that ‘It’s OK.’

“I’ve made a mistake and it was a big mistake, but for now I’m trying to move on from that and improve as a person.”