Panesar told to slow down in Test battle with Giles by CricketArchive staff reporter

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Player:	MS Panesar, AF Giles
Event:	England in Australia 2006/07

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DateLine: 16th November 2006

 

Monty Panesar has been told to slow down in his bid to out-spin team-mate Ashley Giles into the England team for next week's Ashes Test opener against Australia in Brisbane. Panesar, the first Sikh to play for England, is locked in a contest with fellow left-armer Giles for the spinner's position in the Test team and both will get their chance to impress in the tourists' three-day match against South Australia starting Friday. South Australian spinner Daniel Cullen and Shane Warne's mentor Terry Jenner have counseled Panesar to drop his pace and flight the ball more to get the upper hand over Giles. Adelaide Oval groundsman Les Burdett has unveiled a dry pitch with prominent bare patches at both ends for the three-day game. Panesar needs a good match to push ahead of Giles, seen as coach Duncan Fletcher's preferred choice for the November 23 first Test because of his superior batting and fielding abilities. Cullen, who spent a month bowling in the nets during Australia's win in the ICC Champions Trophy in India, said Panesar would need to slow down considerably with his deliveries. "It's going to be interesting to see how he bowls here, he's done fairly well bowling for England in Test matches in England and India on pitches that are more receptive to spin if you fire the ball in quicker," Cullen told reporters Thursday. "In Australia the wickets are a lot harder and if you bowl too quick over here you won't turn the ball, so you need to give the ball more of a chance to spin by flighting it and bowling it higher." Such loop was absent when Panesar bowled to his former Northamptonshire county team-mate Phil Jaques in Canberra and Sydney, something left-handed opener Jaques mentioned after amassing two centuries in three days. Jenner, who often works and advises Test cricket's leading wicket-taker Warne, said Panesar was bowling too quickly in England's morning training session in Adelaide Thursday.