After being hailed as English spin’s saviour, Panesar has had a less-than-miraculous sophomore term. Sure the talent is still there, but he needs to get his self-belief back, and get out of his shell some
Andrew Miller25-Jan-2008
Panesar may be “working as hard as ever” on his cricket, but that certain something has been missing from his game over the last six months or so © Getty Images
Like a FTSE-listed victim of the global credit crunch, Monty Panesar’s stock has fallen dramatically of late. He’s slipped from his June high of No. 6 in the world rankings to a lacklustre No. 20, he’s lost the one-day spinner’s role that was his during the World Cup in March, and he’s even had to make do with a third-placed finish in the annualBeard of the Year awards – the title he scooped during his Ashes zenith last winter.This week his England team-mates jet off to New Zealand for the startof their spring campaign, but Panesar has been asked to take thescenic route Down Under. Yesterday he arrived in Mumbai with theEngland Lions, where over the next couple of weeks he’ll hone hisskills in the Duleep Trophy, India’s premier domestic competition.Nobody expects it to be a holiday camp – one on famous occasion on thelast such tour in 2003-04, Rod Marsh’s squad somehow allowed SouthZone to chase 501for victory in the fourth innings – but for Panesar the triprepresents an urgently needed break from the limelight.His game has been stuck in a rut for the past six months, and in SriLanka before Christmas, the frustration was evident. Monty’s mantrathroughout his brief career has been that most enervating ofcricketing clichés, “Put the ball in the right areas”, but for longperiods in all three Tests, he was palpably unable to do just that.His impact may have been dulled by the broad blades of KumarSangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, but instead of backing himself tobowl maidens and bore his opponents into error, he sacrificed hisestablished strengths of line and length, and set about searching forthe elusive magic delivery.It was not a recipe for success, personal or collective. Panesar stillfinished as England’s leading wicket-taker in the series, but that wasentirely down to the shortcomings of his fellow bowlers. His eightscalps at 50.62 were his worst return since his debut tour of India inMarch 2006, but they mirrored almost exactly the eight at 50.37 hepicked up in his previous outing, the home series against India. If amental block is forming in his game, then the selectors should bepraised for spotting the right moment to pull him from the front line.”He didn’t have the best of times in Sri Lanka,” said David Parsons,the ECB’s performance director, who will oversee the Lions tour. Priorto his appointment in December, Parsons had worked alongside Panesaras the England team’s spin coach, and few know the mechanics of hisgame better. “Monty’s the sort of guy who wants to play all the time,so I’m sure he’s looking forward to the trip,” Parsons added. “We all seethis as an opportunity for him to work on his game so he’s ready forthe Test matches in New Zealand.”England’s former coach Duncan Fletcher would doubtless seize uponthis form slump as vindication of his own, controversial, assessmentof Panesar’s talents, but not everyone sees it quite like that. Writing in the Observer, Vic Marks, himself a former England spinner, suggested that Panesar was in need of nothing more than a “10,000-ball check-up”. “Monty is a mechanical bowler rather than an intuitive one, which need not be a major disadvantage,” said Marks.”But [he] looks as if he’s starting to panic when his tried-and-trusted mechanism is no longer producing the results.” If a touch of vertigo is setting in after Panesar’s stellar rise ininternational cricket, it’s hardly surprising – he has not evencompleted two years in the Test team, but he has ridden such atidal wave of hype and celebrity, he’s sure to feel weighed down byinflated expectations. Mind you, his lofty profile is largelyself-inflicted If a touch of vertigo is setting in after Panesar’s stellar rise ininternational cricket, it’s hardly surprising – he has not evencompleted two years in the Test team, but he has ridden such atidal wave of hype and celebrity, he’s sure to feel weighed down byinflated expectations. Mind you, his lofty profile is largelyself-inflicted – in 2007, thanks to some pretty avaricious cash-insby his team of advisors, he was the face of everything from DVDs topotato snacks, and even found time for an unfortunately prematureautobiography.”A few people have suggested I might be getting too commerciallymotivated, but nothing could be further from the truth,” said Panesar.”When you become a recognised face, people want to get to know you andwith that can come opportunities, but I am working as hard as ever onmy cricket.”Few who saw him in the nets in Sri Lanka would doubt thatfinal assertion, but somehow he lacks a spark of belief at present.His predecessor, Ashley Giles, also struggled to cope with the burdenthat is placed on England’s anointed spinner, but in hindsight Giles hadit easy. In an era dominated by three of the greatest (and weightiest)wicket-taking spinners in history, no one realistically expected himto match the matchless. Panesar, for one reason or another, does nothave that luxury.In truth, he’s been pretty unfortunate in his timing. Five of hisfirst seven series (and 15 of his 23 Tests) have featured one of thebig three – Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble – whocurrently outweigh his wickets tally by the small matter of 25 to 1.Coming from a culture where deference to one’s elders is ingrainedfrom birth, that’s quite some mental hurdle to have to overcome.Panesar’s reaction ahead of each of these series has been the same.”How can the student be a rival to the teacher?” he said of hisimpending meetings with both Kumble and Muralitharan last year. Theanswer, to judge by his stats, is that he can’t. Monty’s record inmatches involving the big three is 41 wickets at 41.68, compared to 40at 23.62 against the spin-light opposition of Pakistan and West Indies.Moreover, he’s contributed to two victories in 15 attempts in thefirst bracket, compared to six in eight in the second.
Doctor, doctor: Panesar with David Parsons, then the England spin coach, in Sri Lanka late last year © Getty Images
That’s not to say he hasn’t had some measure of success in thesegames, but at no stage – except arguably in Perth during the Ashes, whenhe was pumped to the gunwales with indignation after his earlieromissions – has he gone in with the same belief that so overwhelmedWest Indies and Pakistan. With that in mind, his next destination,after the Indian interlude, is an intriguing one. New Zealand’scaptain is Daniel Vettori, the most durable left-arm spinner in theworld today. He’s respected and renowned, but hardly the type to berevered. In fact, his average of 34.22 is two clicks higher thanPanesar’s, and his strike-rate some ten balls slower.Perhaps that goes to show that Monty’s off-colour moments simply comewith the territory. Despite the hype, he is not the messiah thatEngland dearly wish him to be. He is merely the best slow bowler thatthe country has to offer. A touch more self-belief would not go amiss,however, and to that end he could doubtless be helped by his captain.In one of the most candid passages of his autobiography, Panesar tellsof the excitement he felt when selected for his debut against India atNagpur. Up he bounded to the room of the then-skipper, AndrewFlintoff, armed with a bundle of plans and potential field placings.
When I knocked on Flintoff’s door and handed over the resultshe seemed a bit bemused.
“This is what I’m thinking of doing,” I said.
“Ah, okay,” he replied, sounding as puzzled as he looked. “No worriesat all, mate. I’ll take it all on board and you have a good night’ssleep.”
I decided I ought to leave quickly because I wasn’t sure whether hewanted me in his room
Michael Vaughan, take note. Monty is his own man, and has plenty ofideas to make his own game work better. But to judge by the passivityof his recent performances, he could probably do with being coaxedback out of his shell a touch.
