Monty Panesar, a former spinner of the England National Cricket Team, has retaliated against the strong insult of the Australian National Cricket Team’s batting prodigy Steve Smith, who is already making his presence felt in the upcoming Ashes series.
With his sharp comment, Panesar stated that he and Steve Smith both committed a mistake, but the former’s was on the Mastermind show and the latter’s was on the cricket field.
“I think it’s still bothering him, no doubt about it,” Monty Panesar has said. The Ashes series of 2025-26 will kick off in Perth on November 21, and the verbal exchange between former and current players has already begun, one of which is the Monty Panesar vs Steve Smith banter.
Almost at the same time, the non-striker batting England’s Monty Panesar and Australia’s stand-in captain Smith have been having arguments, and these are among the most interesting.
Specifically, just a week ago, Panesar had reportedly suggested that the Englishman’s tactic should be to be “cool” and “guilty” by constantly reminding him of the infamous ball tampering incident in South Africa to be confused and less effective -thus targeting the Australian batsman.
At the press conference, Smith replied to Panesar’s remarks and while discussing the topic, went on to mock Monty Panesar for not being able to pull off his role on a celebrity game show, Celebrity Mastermind, in which he was a contestant.
The ex-spinner of England was not long before he replied to Steve Smith, stating this to the PA news agency
“It’s an interesting one. I think it’s still in his head, 100 per cent. I find it so funny that he’s memorized the questions and answers.”
The best way to evade it is to say something utterly funny -Monty Panesar
Panesar said that the comical route Smith has taken to laugh off his remarks is just a sign that he is still affected by the ugly ball-tampering incident, which the English players should take up while sledging him. He expressed
“Monty’s in your head, mate” – Monty Panesar
Panesar went on to suggest that the Stokes team should first mention Steve Smith’s name then to get into his head and thus make him uneasy in the middle. He continued by saying:
“Say ‘Monty’s in your head, mate, the number 11 batsman is in your head, are you going to play like him today?’
“Making him uncomfortable is the secret. Cricket Ashes is all about getting one per cent more; might this be the one per cent advantage for the English team to get Steve Smith out?
“Is it possible that the English can sledge him in this one per center así de palmeo and all the lads are going to get him uncomfortable for the first 10 to 20 balls, he is not going to get going and gets out? (If that happens), the English will think we need to do this every time.”
