Steve Smith Takes Brutal Shots at Monty Panesar After Sandpaper Taunt Ahead of Ashes

Ahead of the Perth Test, Steve Smith declared he is 'relaxed', confidently expressing his readiness to captain Australia in Pat Cummins' absence.

Steve Smith Takes Brutal Shots at Monty Panesar After Sandpaper Taunt Ahead of Ashes

Steve Smith slammed Monty Panesar over his reviving the 2018 Ball-tampering controversy. (via BBC)

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With the 2025-26 Ashes set to begin, the banter between English and Australian players seems to be an unending one. Aussie skipper Steve Smith took a brutal jibe at Monty Panesar, after the latter expressed disappointment at Smith being reappointed captain after the 2018 sandpaper incident. 

The upcoming Ashes is expected to be a much-heated and exciting affair, given the Three Lions will be looking to win the ‘urn’ for the first time in almost a decade. Meanwhile, Australia has not lost an Ashes Test against England at home, since the 2010-11 edition. The ICC World No. 1-ranked Test side however, will be without the service of Pat Cummins, with Steve Smith appointed as the stand-in captain.

It marks the seventh time that the 36-year-old ace batter will be leading Australia in a Test match, after having lost his full-time captaincy due to the infamous 2018 ball-tampering controversy. Smith and David Warner had to step down from their roles as captain and vice-captain respectively, after they confessed to having tried to rough the ball with sandpaper, also leading to a year-long ban from cricket.

Ex-England spinner Monty Panesar, revived the seven-year-old controversy before the Ashes, urging Ben Stokes and Co. to use it as a tactic to derail the Australians. He stated that it is ‘unethical’ for him to be appointed captain, as he did not play the game ‘fairly’. However, the 36-year-old also did not let Panesar’s comments slide past, taking a jibe at the former player on his confused 2019 appearance on a UK-based show, named Celebrity Mastermind.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Steve Smith joked about the wildly incorrect answers that Panesar gave on the BBC’s quiz show, while noting he is least bothered by the former spinner’s opinion. He noted how the 43-year-old former player had responded to general knowledge questions, asked by John Humphrys, in an ‘illogical’ manner, naming Athens as a place in Germany, British fiction character Oliver Twist as a season of the year, and America as a city.

I am going to go off topic here, who in the room has seen Mastermind, and Monty Panesar on that? Any of you? Anyone that believes that Athens is in Germany… It does not really bother me, those comments.

Meanwhile, Smith’s remarks on Panesar quickly went viral on social media, as clips of the former England icon’s interview resurfaced. Interestingly, the former England icon has responded to Smith’s remarks by noting his mistakes were off the field, while the Aussie’s were on the field.

Steve Smith names Australia’s playing XI for the first Ashes Test in Perth

Just a day ahead of the opening Test match of the 2025-26 Ashes against England at the Optus Stadium in Perth, stand-in Australian captain Steve Smith named the playing XI. For the home side, Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett will be making their Test debut. 

Australia playing XI Ashes
Steve Smith announced Australia’s playing XI for Ashes opener. (via Times of India)

Australia’s experiments with the second opening option alongside Usman Khawaja continues, with 31-year-old Weatherald the new opener for the Ashes. The Tasmanian left-hander comes off the back of an impressive Sheffield Shield season. Fast-bower Brendan Doggett, also 31, comes in as the third quick in the playing XI for the Perth opener, as a replacement for the injured Josh Hazlewood. 

Meanwhile, Cameron Green‘s return to the playing XI for the first Test against England, means heartbreak for in-form all-rounder Beau Webster, who has missed out on a place. Khawaja will open the batting, alongside Weatherald, followed by Marnus Labuschagne, who has been put back into his preferred number three position, captain Steve Smith, Travis Head, Green and wicket-keeper Alex Carey.

Steve Smith also named the four primary bowlers for the first Test against England, going ahead with a lone spinner in the form of the Nathan Lyon. He will be joined by the three fast bowlers, debutant Doggett, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, to compete the playing XI.

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