Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith did not hold back as he tore into former England spinner Monty Panesar for advising Ben Stokes-led side to use sandpaper sledge during Ashes 2025-26. After announcing Australia's playing eleven for the Ashes 2025-26 opener at Perth Stadium, Smith was asked about Panesar’s comments. Interestingly, the Australia batter was aware of the comments of the left-arm spinner and recalled his embarrassing UK quiz show Mastermind episode from 2019.
Here's what Panesar said -
“Ben Stokes and the England team have got to make Steve Smith feel guilty and play on that,” Panesar said.
“Say something like, ‘I don’t think it’s ethical that he’s the captain, I don’t think he played the game fairly’. Really get into him and make him feel guilty about it. Make him feel like, ‘they’re probably right, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be doing this.’
“This is where the UK media must also focus and put pressure. Use it as a way to help England,” he added.
“I hope that England uses it as an advantage and don’t just get quiet about it because we know he bats well when he’s captaining Australia.
“If it were the opposite, the Australian media would be all over it. They would have said, if it was any of the English players, ‘the cheaters have arrived’. Right?”
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Smith returns it ten-fold
“I’m gonna go off topic for a second here,” Smith said. “Who have you in the room have seen Mastermind and Monty Panesar on that?
“Any of you? Yeah. Well those of you that have, you’ll understand where I’m coming from, and those of you haven’t, do yourself a favour because it’s pretty comical.
“Anyone that believes that Athens is in Germany, that’s a start, 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.”
Two debutants in Perth Test
Meanwhile, Smith has confirmed debut of two domestic veterans. Jake Weatherald will open the innings alongside Usman Khawaja whereas Brendan Doggett will fill-in for an injured Josh Hazlewood.