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New Delhi: Former England spin bowler Monty Panesar has responded to Steve Smith after his mocking comments about him in the pre-match press conference ahead of the opening Ashes Test in Perth.
Panesar, who played his last Test match during the 2013-14 Ashes tour, had requested that England players, travelling fans, and the British media continue to target Australia's stand-in skipper Smith over the 2018 sandpaper scandal. He said that Smith should be made to feel "guilty" about replacing Pat Cummins for the first Test.
However, when being asked about the former spinner in the press conference, the Australian batter recalled his embarrassing appearance on the British quiz show Mastermind, where most of his answers were wrong.
"Anyone who believes that Athens is in Germany, that's a start, or Oliver Twist is a season of the year and America is a city, doesn't really bother me those comments. Yeah, that's as far as I'll go with that one," Smith said in the press conference.
Following Smith’s remarks, Panesar has fired back at the Australian captain, saying that he made his mistakes on a quiz show while Smith made his on the cricket field in front of everyone.
"We’ve both made mistakes. I made mine on a quiz show. He (Steve Smith) made his on a cricket field. I know I'm guilty of bad general knowledge, not ball tampering," said Panesar on BBC 5 Live.
The Sandpaper Gate scandal erupted during the 2018 Test series between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town. The Australian batter Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper to tamper with the ball. Captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found to have masterminded the plan.
The incident caused massive outrage in world cricket, after which Smith and Warner received 12-month bans from Cricket Australia, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months. The scandal broke Australia’s cricketing reputation, and it remains one of the sport’s most embarrassing controversies.
Following his ban, Smith made a comeback in Test cricket during the 2019 Ashes in England. The star batter faced relentless booing and hostility throughout the series in England, but batted brilliantly, scoring 774 runs at an average of 110.57 to help Australia retain the urn.
