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.