Panesar: 'Tests give me the biggest buzz'

Already it's become the scenario that epitomises the agony and ecstasy of the Allen Stanford experience. It's the final ball of the US$20 million showdown in Antigua, and there's one run needed to win. The ball is belted high in the air, down towards long-off, where circling underneath it is ... Monty Panesar.

Does he take the catch? "No pressure at all. I'd take it easily!" says Panesar, speaking at the launch of International Cricket Captain 2008. It's the morning after the Stanford announcement, and Monty is in a jovial mood. Little wonder, given the untold riches that are set to be showered upon England's elite cricketers in the coming months and years. For the moment, however, he is honest enough to acknowledge that, when it comes to the game that could make him a dollar-millionaire overnight, he is very much an outsider for selection.

"I've played a few international Twenty20s, and a few for Northants as well, but I think they need me to be a bit more of a packaged cricketer," he admits. "I need to add a bit more variety to my game, but it's exciting isn't it? A catch might depend on you for everyone to get their share, or you might have to hit a four off the last ball. The players who will play in the Twenty20s - and I feel I can still be part of that - are the guys who will fully deserve it, and full credit to them."

For Panesar, however, the only form of the game that truly counts is Test cricket, and his endorsement is doubly welcome after the manner in which it was denounced as "boring" by Stanford during Wednesday's launch. "Test cricket is always going to give me the biggest buzz," he says. "As a youngster I always dreamed of playing Tests, I didn't think about hitting sixes in a Twenty20 game. It's the ultimate form of the game, and you only have to look at the last Ashes in 2005 to realise that. It was so exciting, everyone was on their seats."

When put on the spot, however, and asked to choose between the glory of an Ashes triumph and the riches of a Stanford win, Panesar demurs and said that he would hope to stick one hand out for each - an approach that would doubtless cause him to drop both crucial catches. But ultimately he concedes that an Ashes triumph would have to take priority. "There's the history of cricket behind it, and everything else that goes into it," he says. "[Stanford] is just a new concept that's two days old, the Ashes has been going for centuries."

In addition, as a spin bowler, there's a whole lot more job satisfaction to be taken out of a full-on Test performance. "Twenty20 cricket is all about hitting and missing, and guessing what shot he's going to play," says Panesar. "It's that sort of instant moment thing. I'm interested in understanding the game a bit more and knowing what to do when, rather than just bowling 10 overs, and taking two for 20."

"I'm not so interested in statistical goals, I'm more into process and characteristic goals," he says. "It's about learning how to be patient, and knowing how each wicket requires bowling differently. I might learn what's the right pace for a certain wicket, but then the situation of the game might be different and they are looking to attack, so what field settings do I have to have, and how do I bowl now? These kind of things are what I'm more interested in."

That said, he's not about to write off his involvement in the shorter form of the game, although for the moment, his natural enthusiasm over-rides any fiscal imperatives. "I definitely want to be back in the one-day side, and I feel I can play a role," he says. "But for me, it's not about the money, because you kind of lose the passion don't you? You're not bowling the ball, you're bowling dollars."

His Stanford invitation may be lost in the post for the time being, but Panesar has still been bowling like a million dollars of late. Against New Zealand at Old Trafford last month, he produced a spell that transformed England's fortunes in a topsy-turvy contest. He finished with his career-best figures of 6 for 37, an effort that took his Old Trafford tally to 25 wickets in three victorious appearances, but unfortunately for Panesar - and for England - the ground will not play host to another Test match for at least three years.

"I love bowling on that wicket, but I guess the ECB make the decisions," says Panesar. "I'd take it away with me every day. It suits my style of bowling, because there's sideways movement and extra bounce, so it's a nice wicket to bowl on. I've had success there, but I've got to move on."

In fact, Panesar's Old Trafford success took his career tally to 101 wickets in only 28 appearances, a rate that exceeded both Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori. With the Ashes looming next year, and Shane Warne out of the equation after dominating the contest for 14 years, Panesar is already being earmarked as England's chief bowling threat. Next month, he has a chance to consolidate his reputation in England's series against South Africa, a team that is ranked fourth in the world, but whose handling of spin bowling has long been a weakness.

"They are a very good team, and it's going to be a tough one," says Panesar. "I don't really try to predict [what can happen] because that can make you complacent as a spinner. If you think they may not be great players of spin you can relax a little bit, and the next thing you know that [attitude] could bite you. My big ambition is to be part of the Ashes squad next summer, but cricket's one of those games that, if you take a series away, you can be trying to build your form back up. It's a long way off, and for me it's a gradual building block process."

For the time being, Panesar's thoughts are turning back to the hot topic of the moment, Twenty20 cricket, in which he makes his first appearance of the season, for Northants against Worcestershire on Friday. "I do feel I can do a role in one-day cricket, and hopefully I can prove that while I play domestically for Northants," he says. "It's a good cricketing development, more than anything, because there are certain areas where I want to enhance my game, and by playing in these games you increase your game awareness."

Test cricket may be the ultimate for Panesar, but he's certainly not going to allow himself to be pigeonholed, least of all now, at such a dramatic juncture for the world game. He denies, with an admirably straight face, that he has had any approaches from the Indian Premier League, but like everyone else in the England dressing-room, it's a prospect he would love to entertain. "It's exciting, and it would be nice if we could be involved in the IPL," he says, "but the ECB have the hold on that. We'll have to see how much flexibility they give us."