‘That’s as far as I’ll go’: Steve Smith eviscerates former England spinner Monty Panesar over TV game show appearance
Monty Panesar poked the bear known as Steve Smith and got an all-time response as the Australian captain fired back at the former England star ahead of the Ashes.
In the lead-up to the first match in Perth, which starts on Friday, the former Test spinner urged Ben Stokes and the side to target Smith over the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
“Ben Stokes and the England team have got to make Steve Smith feel guilty and play on that,” Panesar told Aceodds.com
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“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.”
The topic was brought up at Thursday’s pre-game press conference and Smith didn’t waste any time clapping back at Panesar’s comments, with an hilarious takedown of the spinner’s seemingly clueless TV game show effort in which he got answers comically wrong when appearing on Mastermind.
Steve Smith has responded to Monty Panesar Getty/Nine
“I’m gonna go off-topic here,” the 35-year-old said with a smile.
“Who of you in the room have seen Mastermind and Monty Panesar on that?
“For those of you that have, you’ll understand where I’m coming from and those of you that haven’t, do yourself a favour because it’s pretty comical.
“Anyone that believes that Athens is in Germany, Oliver Twist is a season of the year and America is a city, doesn’t really bother me.
“That’s as far as I’ll go with that one.”
Earlier in the week, Brad Haddin was far more damning in his assessment of Panesar’s bold plan to unravel Smith in the middle.
“Pull your f—–g head in,” the former Test keeper said on Willow Talk.
“England won’t play that way under Stokes. They will get into a contest, but they’re not gonna go down that way.”
As for the series opener itself and leading the side in the absence of Pat Cummins, the right-handed batting phenom said he feels more at ease than in the past.
“I’m pretty chilled, I think I have learned a lot over my journey,” Smith said.
“The couple of times I have stood in for Patty, I’ve tried to be pretty relaxed and let the game play. Obviously I’ve got to do it my own way out there and have my own style.
“I’m a lot more relaxed these days and chilled and let the guys go about their work.”
Australia confirmed their team, with two debutants – Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett – both coming into the XI to face England.
