Departure Lounge with Geoff Lemon

He was top of the world, with numbers bettered only by Don Bradman.

Then Australian cricket captain Steve Smith led his team into one of the biggest controversies ever to have happened in Australian sport – a cheating scandal that stunned the whole cricket world.

Caught ball tampering in 2018, worldwide media exploded, the public was appalled and million-dollar contracts were torn up.

But there was more to this story than the actions of a few young men. A complex tangle of personality, politics and culture had led them to this point.

Author Geoff Lemon saw the story unfold over several years from commentary boxes and press conferences, and was in South Africa for its final act. Steve Smith’s Men is a frank, fearless and often humorous account of the path from Ashes high to Cape Town low, from someone who was there for every ball and every statement.

Geoff has covered cricket as a writer and broadcaster since 2010, including touring with the Australian men’s and women’s teams since 2013. 

He checked into the Departure Lounge to reveal if Smith and Dave Warner actually dislike each other. Was sandpaper-gate inevitable?