Steve Smith was all set to give the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) a pass before a late change of mind convinced him to sign up for a maiden stint in West Indies’ T20 league.
The banned Australia batsman made his return to competitive cricket recently in the inaugural Global T20 Canada. That was Smith’s first participation in any competition since he was handed a 12-month suspension from international and domestic cricket by Cricket Australia for his role in the ball-tampering scandal that occurred in Newlands.
Following his stint in Canada, Smith was all set to take a break from cricket once again as he finalized his wedding plans with partner Dani Willis. However, the prospect of time in the middle was enough to persuade the former Australia skipper to change his mind and sign up with the Barbados Tridents.
Smith recently took part in the inaugural Global T20 Canada.
“It was a relatively late change of heart but there weren’t any financial incentives,” CPL chief executive Pete Russell stated.
“In consultation with his manager and wife-to-be, I think they decided he just needed playing time. He wanted to play hard cricket, get back into the swing of it and also fly under the radar.
“You don’t get hassled by anybody in the Caribbean, that was a large part of it. If this were an opportunity in England for example, there’d be more of that.”
Smith will be joined by fellow banned Australia batsman David Warner in the CPL with the left-handed opener set to turn out for the St. Lucia Stars.
The CPL gets underway on August 8 at the Queen’s Park Oval with Warner’s St. Lucia Stars taking on the Trinbago Knight Riders.