After Steve Harmison's 'cheat' comment on Steve Smith, former England spinner Monty Panesar has also come up with some piercing remarks for the former Australian captain, saying his on-field antics will never overshadow the fact that he was involved in the sandpapergate in South Africa.
Echoing Harmison’s sentiments, Panesar also believes that people will always remember Smith’s involvement in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal and he will always be known as a cheat.
Harmison told talkSPORT, “I don’t think you can forgive him. When you’re known as a cheat – and he is, I’m not going to sugar-coat it – that’s on your CV. You’re marked and you take it to the grave. Whatever Steve Smith does, he’ll always be remembered for what happened in South Africa.”
The stylish right-hander has been incredible with the bat in the ongoing Ashes 2019 and huge credit goes to him that Australian have retained the Urn in England after 18 years. He has been applauded by many for his blistering form in the longest format of the game and even some are comparing him with former cricketing greats but Panesar said that’s unfair to them.
The Englishman further added that Smith should not be compared with any cricketing great following his tainted conduct in South Africa and if people do that, they would be tarnishing their status.
However, he lauded the 30-year-old for his brilliant batting and said he is a traditional Australian cricketer, but he will never be in the league of greats.
Speaking to Times of India, Panesar said of Smith: “This will always be at the back of the mind of every cricket fan. Smith has similar stature as Ricky Ponting. Does he deserve that? I would say no. Because Ponting captained the team, scored many match-winning knocks and guided Australia to World Cup (title), but he didn’t do the Sandpaper incident. If we will compare Smith with him, we would be tarnishing Ponting’s image. I don’t think Smith’s name should be associated with any cricketing great.”
He further went on to explain his views, “There is a difference between a good player and a great player. It’s all about how you conduct yourself on and off the field. Because of the sandpaper incident, Smith will always be below the ‘great’ status. Look at Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni or Kapil Dev. When we talk about these cricketers we add legend or great before their names. Be it on or off the field, these guys have conducted themselves so well. When you meet them, you feel so good. They are great human beings. It doesn’t matter how many runs Smith will score, he will never be in the league of greats.”
Meanwhile, Smith is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Ashes series with 671 runs in just three Tests, but Panesar doesn’t believe his batting prowess would outdo his image as a ‘cheat’.
He continued, “(Steve) Smith was probably honest with himself. He is back and doing what he always loves to do. He is batting well and scoring runs. He is a traditional Australian cricketer with the baggy green. He is exactly what an Australian cricketer looks like. We all have heard of great (Diego) Maradona and his hand goal (hand of God) in the World Cup. People remember him because of that goal. Similarly, people will always remember Smith’s involvement in the ball-tampering episode during the Test against South Africa. He will always be known as a cheat, despite scoring huge number of runs.”
Panesar signed off by saying, “There is no doubt though, that he is a great talent. He has been phenomenal for Australian cricket. After some years, I am not sure how people will treat him. When his name will be placed alongside great cricketers then there will be a question that is he really a great or just a good cricketer who is also a cheat.”
(With Times of India Inputs)
