If you take the ball tampering bit on its own, he and the other Aussies are not the first and won't be the last. It covers just about all teams at some point....so Smith does not deserve to be hung for that-us supporters of other national teams would be hypocrites if we said so.
It's what they did after being caught which made it far worse, if they had owed up, yeah we did it to get the ball to swing or whatever, then the get a telling off and a ban or fine, no massive deal.
They lied to the on field umpire by saying they were using a sunglasses cloth to shine the ball.
They then in a press conference denied using sandpaper and made absolute mugs out of the worlds media who wanted an explanation for what they saw.
They absolutely threw Bancroft under the bus as a rookie player and let him take the flak....lets be honest..NO BOWLERS got done here. I can't believe there is anyone on this forum who actually believes the bowlers did not know what was going on.
Then having been found out Smith, Warner and whoever else cried in press conferences to try to get public sympathy.
It was absolutely pathetic.
The crime (ball tampering), was not the biggest problem, it's the lies, trying to cover it up,misleading the umpire and ending Bancrofts international career as he was 'disposable'.
If an England player had done all the above I can honestly say hand on heart as a supporter whoever it was should never represent the Country again.