Smith fires back at Mastermind Panesar over 'Sandpapergate' comments

Steve Smith fired a comic counter-punch at former England spinner Monty Panesar when the subject of the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal came up in his press conference on the eve of the Ashes opener on Thursday.

The stand-in Australia captain was asked about Panesar's recent comments that England should shame Smith over his involvement in "Sandpapergate" to get a psychological edge in the series, which starts in Perth on Friday.

Smith, who was banned for a year from elite cricket and stripped of the test captaincy for his role in the scandal, quickly pivoted to Panesar's less than impressive appearance on a British TV quiz in 2019.

"I'm gonna go off topic for a second here," the 36-year-old batter told reporters at Perth Stadium.

"Who of 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.

"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, doesn't really bother me those comments.

"Yeah, that's as far as I'll go with that one."

Smith, who is replacing the injured Pat Cummins as skipper, earlier named an Australia team featuring two debutants for the first of five tests.

England last won an Ashes test Down Under in early 2011 and face a mighty challenge to wrest back the urn, which Australia have held since the 2017-18 series.