Re: Monty Panesar : Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:32 am  

JWP wrote:

He was almost a victim of too much success, he got into the England side, took wickets, people wore his masks, it just snowballed. FFS, people cheered if he hit the ball at times when batting. I think getting out of the limelight will have done him no harm, but he's a fine bowler, he spins the ball, he gets bounce and I think he's better than what people credit him for, he didn't pick up 100+ mugs, he got good wickets, top order wickets.

As always in England, someone who had instant success was over-hyped, expected to take five-fers every other match, then had his game scrutinised for flaws and weaknesses when the success dried up. The novelty of him being a Sikh and a hopeless batsman & fielder just added to the cartoon image; a bit like a letter-day Devon Malcolm. (Only England could pick a "West Indian fast bowler" with Clark Kent spectacles who has to be hit on the head in order to prompt his best ever performance.)

Monty's still relatively young for an international spinner, and younger than Swann. I think he could be the ideal partner now, playing an ostensibly supporting role to the more extrovert Swann's contrasting style of bowling.

Re: Monty Panesar : Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:20 am  

Prince of Denmark wrote:

As always in England, someone who had instant success was over-hyped, expected to take five-fers every other match, then had his game scrutinised for flaws and weaknesses when the success dried up. The novelty of him being a Sikh and a hopeless batsman & fielder just added to the cartoon image; a bit like a letter-day Devon Malcolm. (Only England could pick a "West Indian fast bowler" with Clark Kent spectacles who has to be hit on the head in order to prompt his best ever performance.)

Monty's still relatively young for an international spinner, and younger than Swann. I think he could be the ideal partner now, playing an ostensibly supporting role to the more extrovert Swann's contrasting style of bowling.

Yeah, agreed on all counts.

My only worry with Panesar, and I mean my only worry as I think most of the stuff said about him is invented is simply that in the winter if he's bowling in tandem with Swann, batsmen will sit in against Swann and probably look to attack Panesar, the last time we saw him, he could never react to this, he bowled it flatter and flatter and it seemed to shake him. I hope he's now overcome this, as he'll be targeted as 'frail'.

It's a different England too now, you're expected to be on it everytime you take to the field, there's an intensity about England, he'll need to be upto this.

I know it's ODI cricket, but you do get the impression Patel needs to take the opportunity in this series to play himself onto the plane this winter.