With England’s test series in India finally due to begin in Chennai, England have named their side in advance. The big news being that the selectors have given a Test debut to spinner Graeme Swann, a regular in the one day squad. Swann, a right arm off-spinner comes in for the injured Stuart Broad and gives England their first all out spin pairing since the last time they visited these shores in 2006, when Panesar himself and Shaun Udal bowled England to victory in Mumbai.
Swann is also a capable batsman, having even opened for his county Nottinghamshire in the past. He therefore fills the number eight void left by Broad but his fans will be hoping he can impress more with the red cherry in hand. His inclusion in the side will be seen as a positive thing as it means that Panesar is not the lone spinning option for captain Kevin Pietersen.
Panesar has been criticised for his lack of progress in the recent year, having made such a impression in the early stages of his career. Shane Warne gave a frank assessment of Panesar saying that he had not played thirty three test matches, rather he had played the same test match thirty three times. One can assume that this was a reference to Panesar’s lack of variation and his samey style of bowling.
He relies greatly on the left arm spinner’s stock ball: curve it in towards the right hander, pitch it on middle or leg stump and spin it away. It can work to devastating effect, as shown by his demolition of New Zealand at Manchester last summer (he took 6-37). However, when the pitch offers little and the batsman are set, he tends to struggle.
Also, he appears to have lost some of his childlike love of the game. Even after pastings at the hands of Australia’s rampant batsman, he still seemed to be enthusiastic about the possibility of a wicket. One can point to tough times at the hands of India, Sri Lanka and South Africa and Monty appears to be less happy with the way his game goes.
Swann could make Monty’s life a whole lot easier. They compliment each other excellently, with the right arm/left arm combination making life difficult for the batsman and forcing him to readjust his thinking. Also, the presence of another spinner will ease the mental burden on Panesar. If your running in, over after over, with two Indian batsman hitting you all over the park, the thought that you’re the only one that can make the ball spin could be an intimidating one.
Swann has shown previous success on Asian conditions, although only in the one day format. His breakthrough in the England side came after a hugely impressive performance in Sri Lanka last year and he impressed to a degree during England’s thrashing by India in the prematurely aborted one day series recently. He has the ability to really spin the ball, possibly more than Panesar does. He’s not going to win the series for England by himself; but his presence in the team will help Panesar and Panesar could be a match winner.
England finally appear to have picked the right balance in their side. Two different styles of spinner and three pace men in Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and James Anderson. It gives the captain options and that is exactly what England will need if they are to achieve anything from this challenging Test series.
(allvoices.com, 2008)
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