Monty Panesar hits back at Steve Smith: England cult hero takes ANOTHER swipe at Sandpapergate after Australian captain mocked rival’s pitiful effort on Mastermind

Former England spinner Monty Panesar has hit back at Australia captain Steve Smith’s after he attacked his appearance on Celebrity Mastermind, amid a war of words on the eve of the first Ashes Test.

Panesar, who played the last of his 50 Tests during the 2013-14 tour of Australia, had suggested that England should make Smith ‘feel guilty’ about his role in the sandpaper scandal that cost him the captaincy in 2018.

Smith was asked about Panesar’s comments ahead of the first Test in Perth, with the stand-in captain responding by mocking his appearance on the BBC’s Mastermind in 2019.

Panesar had registered a point in the general knowledge round amid a collection of increasingly odd answers.

‘I’m going go off topic for a second here,’ said Smith. ‘Who in the room has 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.

Monty Panesar has hit back at Steve Smith, pictured, after the Australia captain mocked his appearance on Mastermind

Monty Panesar only got one point in the general knowledge round on Mastermind

‘Anyone who believes that Athens is in Germany, that’s a start, or Oliver Twist is a season of the year and America is a city, doesn’t really bother me those comments. Yeah, that’s as far as I’ll go with that one.’

Panesar doubled down on his criticism of Smith over the sandpaper scandal when asked about his response.

‘We’ve both made mistakes. I made mine on a quiz show, he made his on a cricket field,’ Panesar told BBC Radio 5Live.

‘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.

‘It’s opened up now for the England boys to really go hard at him, play a few mind games with him. It could be that difference where he gets out early and suddenly they’re say “thanks Monty”.

‘I know I’m guilty of bad general knowledge, not ball tampering.

‘It’s obviously still a sensitive subject for him and I think no one thought he would respond in this way. I suppose he’s clearly trying to deviate from the subject, but still quite a sensitive one for him.’

Smith was banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months back in 2018, with then vice captain David Warner receiving the same sanction from Cricket Australia.

Panesar, seen celebrating taking the wicket of Smith in Adelaide back in 2013, claimed the Australia’s comments show Sandpapergate remains a ‘sensitive topic for him’

Cameron Bancroft, who used sandpaper to damage the ball during the third Test against South Africa, was given a nine-month ban.

Smith had admitted Australia’s ‘leadership group’ had devised a plan to tamper with the ball, which he admitted was a ‘big mistake’.

Both Smith and Warner returned to Australia’s squad a year later, while Bancroft was recalled for the 2019 Ashes. 

In May, 2019, Panesar wrote exclusively for Daily Mail Sport about his infamous appearance on the long-running BBC show. 

He wrote: ‘I wanted to win Celebrity Mastermind. Just as I’d wanted to be famous for my cricketing excellence, I’d wanted to steal the show by racking up an unassailable lead in my specialist subject and then picking off the general knowledge questions.

‘It didn’t quite happen like that. I thought the first round went OK. I got six out of eight and thought I’d done pretty well, but back in the dressing room I can remember asking everyone their scores and no one really wanted to talk about them.

‘John Humphrys made awkward conversation for a few seconds and then bowled me a long hop for the opening question.

‘How many pockets are there on a snooker table?’ Almost too easy. ‘Six!’ I said. I’m on my way.

Smith leads Australia against Ben Stokes’ England side in the Ashes starting on Friday

‘What sign of the zodiac is represented by a crab?’ ‘Scorpion… Sagittarius?’ ‘Cancer.’ S***. I knew that.

‘What is the title of AA Milne’s stage adaptation of Kenneth Graham’s The Wind in the Willows?’ ‘Harry Potter?’ ‘Toad of Toad Hall.’

Never mind, if it comes to a tiebreaker it’ll be decided on passes, so it’s better to give the wrong answer than no answer.

‘What is the standard international unit of absolute temperature? It is indicated by the letter K.’ ‘Oh, gosh… pass.’

‘Which Asian island city state is served by Changi International Airport?’ ‘Shanghai?’ ‘Singapore.’

‘Birds described as pelagic spend most of their lives flying over what?’ ‘The sky?’ ‘The sea.’

‘In what 1997 film do a group of unemployed men become strippers for the night in their local working men’s club?’ ‘The Dreamboys?’ ‘The Full Monty.’

‘In which city is the Olympiastadion, built for the 1972 Olympics and where Germany’s national football team played until 2001?’ ‘Er … Athens?’ ‘Munich.’

‘What was the second volume of CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia to be published, following on from The Magician’s Nephew?’ ‘CJ Lewis?’ ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.’

‘What were the five guys called in the title of the hit musical that was a tribute to the jazz blues man Louis Jordan?’ ‘Pass.’

‘In an 1819 poem, what season of the year does Keats describe as a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness?’ ‘Oliver Twist?’ ‘Autumn!’

‘In which city is the television series Cheers set?’ ‘America.’ ‘Boston.’

‘Car crash doesn’t do it justice. It was like the Titanic ramming the Hindenburg. In the moments afterwards I was angry, because it was so embarrassing.

‘When it went out I was with my family and I didn’t want to watch, but for me to say Oliver Twist was, I suppose, why there’s only one Monty Panesar. It’s my character, it’s why people remember me.

‘Hardly anyone will remember who won that particular episode of Celebrity Mastermind. They’ll remember me all right.’

Smith certainly remembered as the build-up for the first Test took an unexpected turn.

Panesar, 43, spoke publicly about his mental health struggles in the same year as he appeared on Mastermind.

Smith (right), pictured trudging off after being dismissed by Panesar in 2013, mocked the former England spinner’s appearance on Mastermind

He has battled with depression and also drinking to excess, as well as suffering with paranoia and anxiety. In the peak of those issues, Panesar was released by his county, Sussex, in 2013 after an incident that involved urinating on a bouncer outside a club.

In 2024, Panesar raised eyebrows with a brief sojourn into politics, announcing his candidacy for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain before quitting just a week later. Writing on social media, he said he needed more time to ‘find my political home.’

Panesar took 167 wickets for England in total but perhaps his most memorable Test with the team came as a batsman, making a brilliant last-wicket stand alongside Jimmy Anderson to save the Ashes Cardiff Test of 2009, earning a crucial draw that would help England then go on and win the series. 

Ahead of Friday’s hugely-anticipated opening Test of the series, Smith earlier confirmed Australia’s final XI for Perth, with debuts for opening batsman Jake Weatherald and seamer Brendan Doggett, and no place for all-rounder Beau Webster.