Monty under the spotlight

With the exception of Wayne Rooney’s foot and Michael Schumacher’s disgusting behaviour in Monaco, the weekend’s sports pages seemed to centre on one thing – Monty Panesar’s fielding and batting.

While Duncan Fletcher came out in support of Panesar, the debate over his dismal efforts in the field grew. The fear seems to be over the coming Ashes series and what Panesar could experience in Australia. In The Mail, Colin Bateman warned:

“There will not be much subtle wit flying round from those Aussie crowds who last winter were accused of racist comments by the touring South Africans.”

In The Observer at the weekend, Mike Brearley, the former England captain who was something of a hate figure in Australia, had a similar warning:

“Racism has been an alleged feature of recent Australian cricketing crowds, complained about both by Muttiah Muralitharan and by the South Africa team. Will Panesar be able to keep his head, to improve rather than decline, under such pressure? Time will tell. He looks a steady young man. But he will need a lot of pluck and support to be able to thrive when his every on-field move in Australia becomes the object of what is likely to be, in some part, shamelessly abusive, even racist, mockery.”

In The Daily Telegraph, Derek Pringle compared Panesar to the UK’s ridiculed and ridiculous Deputy PM, John Prescott.

“Both men deal in creating illusions, but while the country is waking up to the fact that Prescott has no discernible talent for political office, Panesar has a gift for spin bowling, even if it is threatened by a debit column full of black marks for his slapstick fielding and dire batting. What can be done? In Prezza's case the answer would be to ship him off to Brussels, partly as penance and partly to wind up the sniffy Eurocrats there. Monty, on the other hand, needs time to improve himself, something he and England don't have much of before the Ashes "Big Bang" starts in November.”

In The Sunday Times, Andrew Longmore hinted at another side to the player:

"Panesar once scored a century against Dunstable in club cricket; he plays striker for his local five-a-side team; he once wanted to be a pilot. None of which provides conclusive proof of hidden athletic ability, merely the glimpse of a different side of a character in danger of being miscast. “Go home and concentrate on your cricket, give it your passion,” a Sikh guru once advised Panesar. The passion is unquestionable; a little faith from his own team is needed or the first Sikh to play for England will be remembered more as a cultural than cricketing phenomenon."

And last Friday, Andrew Miller added to the debate:

Monty is turning into an enigma without equal. So cool, calm and collected with a ball in his hand; such a bag of gibbering nerves whenever it comes near him in the field. His late wicket in Sri Lanka's innings was evidence that he possesses an enviable ability to compartmentalise his woes, but his performance today confirmed him as perhaps the worst fielder ever to represent England in the professional era.

What is sure is that Panesar will be more under the spotlight than ever at Trent Bridge, and when - or perhaps, if - Ashley Giles returns to fitness, then the fielding and batting ability of England's rivals for the spinner's slot will become crucial.