Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Mudhsuden Singh Panesar
Born April 25, 1982, Luton, Bedfordshire
Current age 26 years 18 days
Major teams England, British Universities, Loughborough UCCE, Marylebone Cricket Club, Northamptonshire
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox
Height 6 ft 1 in
Education Bedford Modern School, Stopsley High School, Luton, Bedfordshire; Loughborough University

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	26	37	14	153	26	6.65	502	30.47	18	1	6
ODIs	26	8	3	26	13	5.20	91	28.57	2	0	3
T20Is	1	1	0	1	1	1.00	2	50.00	0	0	0
First-class	77	101	37	517	39*	8.07	1684	30.70			21
List A	42	16	8	93	17*	11.62	177	52.54			7
Twenty20	7	2	0	3	2	1.50	7	42.85	0	0	0

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	26	45	6138	2986	92	6/126	10/187	32.45	2.91	66.7	2	7	1
ODIs	26	26	1308	980	24	3/25	3/25	40.83	4.49	54.5	0	0	0
T20Is	1	1	24	40	2	2/40	2/40	20.00	10.00	12.0	0	0	0
First-class	77		17796	8581	283	7/181		30.32	2.89	62.8	13	17	3
List A	42		1992	1469	40	5/20	5/20	36.72	4.42	49.8	0	1	0
Twenty20	7	7	168	235	10	2/22	2/22	23.50	8.39	16.8	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	India v England at Nagpur, Mar 1-5, 2006 scorecard
Last Test	New Zealand v England at Napier, Mar 22-26, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Australia v England at Melbourne, Jan 12, 2007 scorecard
Last ODI	Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (RPS), Oct 13, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics
Only T20I	Australia v England at Sydney, Jan 9, 2007 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	2001
Last First-class	Northamptonshire v Worcestershire at Northampton, Apr 30-May 3, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	2002
Last List A	Northamptonshire v Leicestershire at Northampton, May 10, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Northamptonshire v Warwickshire at Northampton, Jun 27, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Australia v England at Sydney, Jan 9, 2007 scorecard

Profile

Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known in the game as Monty, quickly established himself as a national hero following a series-winning display against Pakistan in 2006. With his black patka, softly spoken Bedfordshire burr and eager (if sometimes comical) fielding, he has rapidly become the fan's favourite. And with his plate-sized hands, England's most prized spinner in over a decade. He took the well-trodden path from Bedfordshire, where he was born, to Northamptonshire, progressing through the youth teams until he was chosen to play for England Under-19s, which he did for two seasons. He then made his first-class debut, marking the game against Leicestershire with a return of eight for 131 in the match and four for 11 in the second innings. However, first-team opportunities were limited and after a mere two appearances in 2001 he played only six first-class matches in 2002. Even so, he took 17 wickets at just over 32 each and did enough to earn himself a place in the National Academy squad in Australia during the winter. A fine season in 2005, when he took 46 Championship wickets at 21.54, was followed by a stint at the Darren Lehmann Academy in Adelaide, and led to calls from his coach at Northamptonshire, Kepler Wessels, for him to be picked for England's tour of India in February. Wessels got his wish and Panesar was handed his debut at Nagpur, picking up Sachin Tendulkar as his first Test wicket, followed by Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid. His naturally attacking instincts - more often than not bowling around the wicket to right-handers - contrasted with his cherubic and unconfined celebrations at the fall of each and every wicket. Like a lamb let loose from the paddock, the effervescence he showed confirmed his insatiable hunger and love of the game. But it was during his first international home season that his special ability was confirmed, spinning England to a series win over Pakistan. At Old Trafford he made the most of a helpful surface with eight wickets then, at Headingley, he was England's best bowler on a run-filled strip. The loop, guile and changes of pace outfoxed Pakistan's rubber-wristed top-order, including Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. In a matter of months he had elevated himself to the position of England's senior spinner, pushing aside Ashley Giles and drawing comparisons with Bishen Bedi, India's legendary left-arm tweaker. Yet Duncan Fletcher - ever the loyalist; rarely the risk-taker - preferred a rusty Giles for the first two Tests of the 2006-07 Ashes. Monty took his chance in the third at Perth, becoming the first English spinner to take five at the WACA (and eight in the match). As England crashed to a humiliating 5-0 defeat, Panesar was one of the precious few to return home with their reputation intact, and by the end of the tour he had even broken into the World Cup squad, following his crucial role in England's CB Series victory. His performances in the Caribbean were merely steady, but he launched England's new era under Peter Moores with 23 wickets in four Tests against West Indies, and climbed in the process to No. 6 in the world rankings. He struggled in the following home series against India, and away in Sri Lanka, where he lost both his confidence and flight. Both attributes came back on the green-and-seaming conditions of New Zealand in 2008, however, bowling England to a 2-1 series win with 6 for 126 in Napier. The only blemish? A return to the schoolboy fielding which not even the Barmy Army could find humour in.
Will Luke April 2008