Former England spinner Monty Panesar is set for a stint playing Grade Cricket in Sydney this week, following his war of words with Steve Smith ahead of the first Ashes Test match.
Monty Panesar to play Australia grade cricket
Panesar will be playing in the fourth grade for Campbelltown just outside of Sydney. Campbelltown currently sit in bottom place of the Fourth Grade Reid Cup in New South Wales, and are yet to win a game in the competition.
Panesar, who took 167 wickets for across 50 Test matches, last played for England on the 2013/14 Ashes tour in Australia. He started his career at Northamptonshire, before leaving the county in 2009 for stints at Sussex and then Essex before rejoining Northants for the 2016 season, his last in county cricket. In 2017, Panesar was recruited as a spin-bowling consultant by Cricket Australia for a tour of India, after Panesar had spent the winter playing Grade Cricket for Campbelltown.
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Panesar v Steve Smith: What was the pre-Ashes war of words?
Ahead of the Perth Ashes Test match, Panesar hit the headlines after a war of words between him and stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith. Panesar spoke to AceOdds in the weeks before the series, and encouraged the England fielders to bring up Smith's previous ban for ball-tampering following the Sandpaper-gate incident in 2018.
“Ben Stokes and the England team have got to make Steve Smith feel guilty and play on that. Tell him he hasn’t played the game fairly … Make him doubt himself,” was Panesar's advice.
In response, Smith hit back in his press conference the day before the first Ashes Test. During his answer to being asked about Panesar's comments, Smith referenced Panesar's appearance on Celebrity Mastermind in 2019. When quizzed on the show, Panesar memorably went to pieces, and gave answers including 'Athens' when asked to name the city in which Germany's national football team play their home fixtures.
"Anyone that believes Athens is in Germany, that's a start," Smith said in the pre-Perth press conference. "Oliver Twist is a season of the year, and America is a city. It doesn't really bother me those comments."
Smith's answer generated a significant response in the media. Panesar told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We've both made mistakes. I made mine on a quiz show, he made his on a cricket field."
Australia won the first Test of the Ashes by eight wickets, with the second Test due to get underway in Brisbane next week.
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