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Will, I think you’re being a little harsh on Monty.
Yes, the chance was a sitter, but to suggest “his fielding is just not up to scratch” and “could easily cost England a Test against better countries than Sri Lanka” is rough on him considering what happened in the first Test at Lord’s where several established members of the team had a nightmare in the field.
Andrew Miller also commented about Panesar and his fielding (on Cricinfo):
“Stiffer challenges than Sri Lanka await, and when they arrive - starting with Pakistan in July - it won’t be enough to tweak out a tailender to make amends for earlier errors.”
It was hardly Panesar’s fault that he was only able to “tweak out a tailender”. He was only given the ball in the 49th over and managed to take a wicket with his fifth ball. What’s more, he only bowled one more over after that before Sri Lanka’s innings ended.
Fair enough, he was unlikely to have been brought on any earlier due to the way the game was progressing, but when you’re brought on with the opposition eight down and only tailenders to come, I think “tweaking out a tailender” or two is about all you can hope for.
It wasn’t long ago that the mighty Monty obtained the prize wickets of Tendulkar and Dravid (as well as that of Kaif) in his very first Test in Nagpur and he went on to bowl very tidily and economically throughout the whole of the series.
You can’t fault his batting either, in the Bombay Test Monty scored three not out and nought not out, which is an average of, erm, infinity. Not bad, eh?
And anyway, he’s not that bad a fielder - what about that steepling catch he pouched to dismiss Dhoni in Bombay? Quality or what?
Please let’s leave Monty alone. He looks as nervous as anything when he’s fielding and I’m sure is practising as hard as possible.
Let’s concentrate on the positives. Monty Panesar looks like pure class when he’s bowling and I’m sure will start taking hats (or other types of headgear) full of wickets before too long.
