Panesar re-emerges from the wilderness

I would like to start this piece by rewinding to Cardiff in 2009. For the uninitiated, this was the scene of England’s spectacular escape in the first test of that summer’s Ashes series. For those of you who are even less initiated, Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar survived 49 balls at the end of the day to save the test for England and lay the groundwork for their eventual 2-1 series win. It was a truly remarkable result (the notion of England saving the test had seemed scarcely believable at lunch after their entire top order had been removed).

I do wonder how Monty Panesar looks back on that game. He was the unquestionable hero (along with Anderson) but I’m sure he will have less than fond memories of the game as a whole. Many people sometimes forget just how poorly he bowled in that game (to be fair to Monty, Swann was also very poor). He had been brought in as the second spinner on a pitch that was expected to turn and didn’t deliver.

Despite his batting heroics I felt that was probably the end of his test career. I was almost certain of it when he was overlooked on the dustiest of dust bowls at the Oval in the final test of the series.

Oh how it has all changed since then. Part of the reason he had bowled so poorly at Cardiff was the fact that he had completely changed the style which had made him such a success early in his career. Prompted by Shane Warne‘s jibe that he had “played the same test 34 times”, he tried to introduce variation into his bowling. This had the effect of ruining his unerring accuracy.

Cardiff prompted massive changes to every aspect of Monty’s cricket. Firstly, he followed in Graeme Swann‘s footsteps by leaving Northamptonshire for Sussex. This was a big move for Panesar, he had played there his entire life and felt very comfortable. The move down to the South East coast pushed Panesar out of the comfort zone he had enjoyed at Northampton and forced him to focus wholeheartedly on his cricket. He did away with the variations and went back to the nagging accuracy which had earned him his spot in the first place.

The changes in Panesar are evident. In the past, Panesar would seem like a bystander whilst the captain set his field. Today, I noticed him setting his field with the confidence of a man who knows his game. A small detail perhaps, but one I feel signifies the changes in his game. The other noticeable change is the line he has been bowling. In the past, batsmen would be able to leave a large proportion of his deliveries. Today he bowled much straighter, which, combined with DRS made him a constant LBW threat.

Of Monty’s three wickets, two were LBW (the other an almost identical delivery to the beauty that bowled Younus Khan at Headingley in 2006). I would guess, with some confidence, that both of his LBW’s would not have been given 5 years ago. The advent of DRS has completely changed the way spin is played. The periods in which Swann and Panesar were operating from either end was some of the most absorbing test cricket I have seen in some time. The ball was turning (and some of the time, even more dangerously, wasn’t) and the batsmen were having to use their bats as their only line of defence. I can only hope that this riveting battle between batsmen and spinners will continue in the long run as there is hardly anything more enthralling in the game than seeing batsmen desperately try to counter high class spin with men around the bat and pressure on. Unfortunately, these days people would much rather see someone slog a massive six, hear a commentator spout out “It’s a DLF maximum!” Then desperately try and remember which team in the garish outfits they support whilst ogling the NFL cheerleaders (a rant for another day). The fact that India are so completely against the DRS seems more ludicrous with every impotent over their bowlers send down (again, I’ll leave that rant for another day).

It would be almost criminal to talk about today’s play without mentioning Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. The pair came together when Pakistan were 4 wickets down and still 20 runs behind. They ended the day 55 runs ahead, and most importantly, still together. They batted with the kind of calm assurance which had been so lacking in their more experienced top order colleagues and gave a very promising glimpse into the future of Pakistani cricket. They were helped by an aging ball and a tiring Panesar, so it will be very interesting to see how they fare in the morning against a fresh England attack. They have given Pakistan a hope in this game, however with Pakistan’s long tail, England are still firm favourites.

I’ll leave the last word for Monty. After today, and with two more subcontinental tours this year, Panesar has to consider his test career reignited. It is not easy to out-bowl the two best spinners in the world, but he managed it. It’s just a shame his batting and fielding are still hopeless.