Perth, Nov 20 (IANS) Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith delivered a harsh dig at Monty Panesar on the former England spinner’s ‘sandpaper’ row comment ahead of the 2025 Ashes series.

Panesar had previously stated that England should make Smith ‘feel guilty’ regarding his involvement in the Sandpapergate, ball-tampering scandal against South Africa, which led to the batter losing his position as Australia’s full-time captain in 2018.

“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, ‘” Panesar had said.

When questioned about the former English cricketer’s comments during the pre-match press conference ahead of the 1st Test here, Smith dismissed Panesar’s comments and even mockingly referenced his 2019 appearance on a celebrity edition of BBC Mastermind, where he got only one correct answer.

“I’m going to go off topic here. Who of you in the room has seen Mastermind and Monty Panesar on that? Any of you? 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 who believes that Athens is in Germany, 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 said.

Smith received a 12-month international cricket suspension from Cricket Australia and lost the captaincy under a broader leadership ban after the Sandpapergate incident in South Africa.

Cameron Bancroft was seen trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper to gain an unfair advantage. It was later revealed that David Warner had devised the plan, and Smith, the captain of the team at the time, knew about it. As a result, Warner too received a 12-month ban while Bancroft was handed a 9-month ban.

The much-anticipated Ashes series begins on Friday at Perth Stadium.

–IANS

vi/ab