Steve Smith has a batting technique all his own, and it has served him quite well over a long time. But how Australia’s stand-in captain dealt with the first body-blow of the Ashes series that starts at Perth on Friday took everyone by surprise. He took an aggressive posture in dealing with the most embarrassing episode of his career – the 2018 Cape Town Sandpaper scandal.
When comments by former England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar suggesting Smith’s role as skipper during the scandal be brought up when he comes out to bat were mentioned, the Australian stalwart referred to Panesar’s less-than-impressive performance on a TV quiz show.
The match-eve presser was twiddling with mundane questions when Smith took on a question that detonated the old landmine. Panesar, speaking to a betting website aceodds.com, had – if one could quote from Henry VIII – lit a furnace so hot, it was bound to singe him too. He said the English should weaponise Smith’s involvement in the 2018 scandal, where Australians under his leadership were caught tampering with the ball, to get an edge during the contest.
“Ben Stokes and the England team have got to make Steve Smith feel guilty and play on that. 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,” he was quoted as saying.
The 50-Test bowler had argued that Aussie rags would’ve dished out the same ‘Cheaters have arrived’ if it was the other way round.
Smith refused to shoulder arms to the delivery.
“I’m gonna go off topic for a second here,” he launched his pokey riposte to a packed media room. “Who among 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,” he said theatrically.
“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, ……” Smith listed the absurd answers. Panesar had blundered in response to questions on the city that hosted the 1972 Olympics (Munich), a Keats poem, and the setting of the sitcom ‘Cheers’.
Story continues below this ad
Thereafter, Smith concluded, “(it) doesn’t really bother me, those comments. That’s as far as I’ll go with that one.”
Panesar had also suggested a self-declared ‘strategic masterstroke’ for Ben Stokes to get into Smith’s head. “They say, ‘Look, we’re getting the ball to swing, guys and we’re not even using sandpaper and you’re missing it. What’s going on?’”
Later in the day, Panesar added more fuel to the fire.
“We’ve both made mistakes. I made mine on a quiz show, he made his on a cricket field,” the 43-year-old told Radio 5 Live.
Story continues below this ad
“I’ve had some great moments for England and I’ve had shockers, and he’s had some great moments for Australia and he’s obviously had a very big shocker in South Africa. Look, I know I’m guilty of bad general knowledge but not ball-tampering. And I’ll take that everyday.”
Panesar claimed that the fact that Smith chose to respond to his comments in the way he did would give England all the ammunition to go after him in the series.
“What makes it more sort of pleasing is that the night before the Test match, he’s watching my Mastermind clips, memorising the questions and the answers. And it kind of feels like England are already in his head and I can rattle the Aussies from sitting on my sofa. Because he’s done it in this way, I think he’s kind of opened up now for the England boys to really sort of go hard at him,” Panesar argued.
The Australian media, as expected, had a field day.
‘Panesar was not known for his cricket smarts as a player. The late Shane Warne once said of his ability to learn from experience: “Monty Panesar hasn’t played 33 Tests – he’s played one Test 33 times.”Judging by his answers on Mastermind, his general knowledge is not much better,’ The Age wrote.
Story continues below this ad
The Times, London, understandably had a different take on the ‘bizarre attack on Monty Panesar’. ‘What Smith did was incredibly unwise. At a stroke, he gave life to a story that was as bereft of life as a Norwegian parrot. The players may or may not get involved, but it is highly unlikely that the 5,000-10,000 England fans attending the first Test will let the opportunity pass,’ it predicted.
