Steve Smith marked his temporary return as Australia’s Ashes captain with a bizarre attack on former England spinner Monty Panesar.
Panesar recently called on travelling fans and media to barrack Smith over his role in the ‘Sandpapergate’ ball-tampering scandal seven years ago, saying he should be made to feel “guilty” about standing in as Pat Cummins’ replacement skipper.
Rather than let those comments pass, Smith took a curious tangent at his press conference on the eve of the first Test in Perth.
In what appeared to be a well-rehearsed response, Smith moved to discredit Panesar’s opinion with a detailed reference to a gaffe-ridden appearance on Celebrity Mastermind in 2019.
Panesar went viral for a sequence of illogical answers during a general knowledge grilling by presenter John Humphrys.
“I’m going to go off topic here, who in the room has seen Mastermind, and Monty Panesar on that? Any of you?” he said before referencing some specific answers from the clip.
“Those of you that have will understand where I’m coming from. If you haven’t, do yourself a favour because it is pretty comical. Anyone that believes that Athens is in Germany, that’s a start, or that Oliver Twist is a season of the year and America is a city.
“It doesn’t really bother me, those comments. That’s as far as I’ll go with that one.”
Smith’s unexpected diatribe drew laughs from the room but going hard at a retired player who last played Test cricket in 2013 suggests Panesar may have succeeded in getting under the skin of a player who will be key to Australia’s Ashes success.
