Monty's moment
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
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The papers, both in England and Australia, are paying tribute to the efforts of Monty Panesar for breathing life back into the Ashes series with his five-wicket haul on the opening day at the WACA.
In The Age Peter Roebuck talks about the efforts Panesar has put in to make the most of his talents.
Perhaps the sight of a familiar figure standing at the opposite end had helped to settle such butterflies as must have been fluttering in the slowie's stomach. Panesar and Michael Hussey had spent a season together in Northampton and spent every spare moment wrapped in mutually advantageous duels in the nets, thereby impressing comrades prepared to consider a wider range of activities.
In the same paper, Alex Brown takes the popular line that Panesar's success has fuelled the debate about where he'd been hiding for the first two matches.
The "team balance" defence used to justify the selection of Giles in Brisbane and Adelaide now seems more preposterous than ever after Panesar yesterday became the first Test spinner to claim five wickets on a first-day Perth wicket. A cricket team must pick its best bowlers, irrespective of their skills in other facets of the game.
Richard Williams, in The Guardian, suggests if the BBC Sports Personality had been announced a week later, Monty would have been a shoe-in.
Meanwhile, Simon Barnes raises a glass to Panesar and says he should always have been the first choice.
Two iron rules of selection. The first is that you never pick a player for his secondary accomplishment, unless there is nothing to choose between two players for their primary skill. You don’t pick a bowler because he can bat. The second rule is that defensive selections almost always go wrong.
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo