Panesar put through his paces

Monty Panesar has looked slightly out of place a few times during his career – at extra cover for example – but there may have been a few giggles when he lined up alongside the New South Wales Waratahs rugby team for a training session.

Panesar was put through fitness drills alongside 19 stone, six foot four, Wycliff Palu, before having a sledge strapped to his waist and running six stone weights up and down the pitch. No sweat for Monty. “That was a good training session actually,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I was trying to keep up with a couple of the guys there and it was good, I really enjoyed it.”

''I think more than anything when you're cross-fertilising in sports it stimulates your own thinking," said Panesar, who is playing for Randwick-Petersham in Sydney. "'The [Waratahs'] professionalism and their fitness levels are really high and … I've been to their building and seen the facilities, it's just amazing to see what they provide and the facilities they've got and how professional they are in terms of their own sport.''

If he gets a chance to face Pakistan next month they'd better watch out.