Steve Smith was in tears and completely broken down as he addressed the press in Sydney following the ball tampering scandal and his ban from all forms of cricket including the IPL.

To all of my teammates, to fans of cricket all over the world, and to all Australians who are disappointed and angry, I'm sorry, Smith said in his statement at Sydney airport. What happened in Cape Town has already been laid out by Cricket Australia. Tonight, I want to make clear that as captain of the Australian cricket team, I take full responsibility. I made a serious error of judgment, and I now understand the consequences. It was a failure of leadership, of my leadership. I'll do everything I can to make up for my mistake, and the damage it's caused.

If any good can come of this, if there can be a lesson to others, then I hope I can be a force for change. I know I'll regret this for the rest of my life. I'm absolutely gutted. I hope in time, I can earn back respect and forgiveness. I've been so privileged and honoured to represent my country and captain the Australian cricket team. Cricket is the greatest game in the world. It's been my life and I hope it can be again. I'm sorry and I'm absolutely devastated.

Firstly that I'm deeply sorry. I love the game of cricket. I love entertaining young kids, I love kids wanting to play the great game of cricket that I love, he said. Anytime you think about making a questionable decision, think about who you're affecting. You're affecting your parents, and to see how my old man's been ... and my mum, it hurts. I just want to say I'm sorry for the pain I've, I guess, brought to Australia and the fans and the public. It's devastating and I'm truly sorry.

I don't blame anyone, he said. I'm the captain of the Australian team, it's on my watch and I take responsibility for the actions of what happened last Saturday in Cape Town. For me, I think my week has been around 'good people make mistakes', and I've made a big mistake by allowing this to happen. It was a huge error of judgment on my behalf and I'm deeply sorry.

Steve Smith has also stated that this was the first time and hopefully the last time that the Australian team has engaged in ball tampering as far as his knowledge goes.