Proteas captain Faf du Plessis has become the latest high-profile player to express compassion for disgraced Steve Smith.

Former Australian captain Smith‚ David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were handed respective bans by Cricket Australia (CA) for their part in the ball-tempering scandal during the third test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Speaking at the Wanderers on Thursday afternoon ahead of the fourth and final test match‚ which starts on Friday and will be Morne Morkel’s swansong‚ Du Plessis said he texted Smith to offer his support and his Aussie counterpart had appreciated the message.

“I did send him a text of support to say that he will get through this and he must just be strong‚ and he appreciated the message‚” the Proteas’ skipper said.

“There is mutual respect between us‚ he was a good leader for Australia and I know that it is going to be incredibly hard for him over the next coming days.

“It has been a crazy week. I feel sorry for Smith and feel compassion for what he is going through – he is one of the good guys.

“He is in a bad place but he has taken responsibility and we are not sitting in a glass house thinking that we are better than them. It was a mistake that was made and they must move on now.”

Du Plessis said he believed the one-year suspension that Smith received from CA was a bit harsh but that he understood the context of the punishment.

“There have been certain situations with other players in the similar situations but the positive is that ICC want to sharpen so that people will know that if you intend do to something illegal with the ball you can’t just walk away from it‚” he said.