Cricketer Graeme Smith revealed to his wife that he wanted a divorce when he mistakenly sent her a text message he'd meant for his lawyer, according to reports.
The former captain South Africa left wife Morgan Deane Smith devastated at the news having led her to believe that he wanted to save his marriage, her friend reportedly told South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper.
Smith, 34, has been following the South African team at the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks after he retired from the game last year.
Friends of his 29 year-old wife, a singer from Ireland, accused the sports star of 'abandoning' his family in favour of touring and partying with his friends.
The couple, who were married in 2011 following a brief romance, have two young children - a two year old daughter and a son aged one.
Graeme Smith and Morgan Deane pose during the evening function at the Taj Palace in India. Photo / Getty
Mrs Smith, who was a backing singer for Jedward in the 2011 Eurovision song Contest, has not spoken publicly since news of the couple's separation was revealed two weeks ago.
However 'unnamed friends' of the mother-of-two revealed details of the acrimonious break-up which has shocked Smith's fans in South Africa.
"He is only interested in going out with his friends and partying. He is obsessed with the limelight and would go to the opening of an envelope. He finds her boring and thinks she is a nag when she asks him to spend time with his family," a friend told the newspaper.
The report revealed that the singer, whose band Industry twice topped the charts in Ireland, was under the impression that her husband was keen to make their marriage work and had agreed to attend couple counseling sessions.
Instead, she learned that he wanted a divorce in a text message he'd sent to her in error, only minutes after reassuring her that their relationship could be saved.
A source loyal to Mrs Smith told the Sunday Times, "She does everything for her children not to see her cry, but she just can't believe how he has treated her. He has watched her go through this alone.
"The man has completely isolated her. Her whole life was his life, his friends were her friends, and she has just been left on her own with the kids. She has become reclusive in their home - only going to the gym and to take the kids out."
Smith reportedly became cold towards his wife some weeks ago after she'd flown home to Ireland to visit her family.
After arriving back in Cape Town, she was given the number of a lawyer to consult by an intermediary acting for Smith. When she confronted her husband, he denied he wanted a divorce or had sought legal advice, her friends told the paper.
Minutes after this reassurance, Mrs Smith received a text from her husband - apparently intended for his lawyer - demanding to know "why Morgan had been informed, because he [Smith] wanted to tell her himself."
The haste with which Smith has insisted on a divorce has led his distraught wife to wonder whether he has met someone else.
"She has been thinking about this, because the divorce came so quickly. She doesn't know for sure if there is another woman, but if there is, she will have a lot to say to her," the friend said.
The couple met when the Irish pop singer was on holiday in South Africa exactly four years ago. When Smith proposed just three months later, in Ireland, the singer abandoned her career and family and moved to Cape Town to be with him.
Within a year they were parents - daughter Cadence was born in 2012 followed a year later by son Carter.
But the strain of being alone in a strange city with two small children, while her husband toured with the South African team or made public appearances, began to take its toll on the young mother. She gained a lot of weight and rarely went out.
"She is the one who has been raising those children for the past two years. He has had a million jobs. She is a stay-at-home mother. From Monday to Friday she doesn't even leave the house. She doesn't go anywhere, she doesn't have a fancy lifestyle, she doesn't go to social events," the friend told the Sunday Times.
Last year, Smith bowed out of top-flight cricket, saying he wanted to "see my children grow", prompted by a terrible accident in which his daughter suffered burns from boiling water. However, friends of his wife claimed "family life bored him" and his retirement led to even more conflict between them with Smith seeking out the company of friends and spending time drinking.
And when Mrs Smith attempted to relaunch her own music career by entering South African Idols last year, her husband did not even bother to watch her on television.
"He has not made himself available to Morgan. He slotted them in when he could, but he was busy with his own things from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed. He could never come down from the hype. He wanted the hype. If he wasn't on TV doing the commentating, he had to be with the boys where they were all bigging him up, drinking and making him feel good. It was a joke.
"He told Morgan he wanted a family life, but he just couldn't do it. He spent so long being the king that family life bored him. Morgan was constantly fighting with an ego that wanted to be out there."
'He didn't even watch her on the show [South African Idols], it was nothing to him. He didn't care, he was too busy doing his own thing."
Smith's agent, Kirsti Lyall, last night issued a joint statement from the couple emphasising that 'our marriage has broken down purely due to irreconcilable differences.
"We understand that there will be speculation as regards the breakdown of our marriage ... [and] would once again request that our privacy is respected during this difficult time. As parents we continue to have the deepest respect for each other and our ongoing priority remains the security, happiness and best interests of our children."
