Why England must turn to Monty Panesar - Mike Atherton

[King]

England may have misread the conditions at Bristol, which can happen, but there still seems a reluctance to accept that a wicket-taking spinner is an essential part of any modern successful one-day team, writes Michael Atherton. More... Why England must turn to Monty Panesar By Michael Atherton, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:39am BST 26/08/2007 Have your say Read comments The moment England began to slide inexorably to defeat on Friday evening in Bristol could be pinpointed precisely. In the 22nd over, with England in good shape at 134 for two, Rahul Dravid threw the ball to his young leg-spinner, Piyush Chawla. Chawla gave his second delivery a good flick from the wrist which sent it curving, dipping and spinning to the other end, whereupon it sneaked past Kevin Pietersen's flimsy defence like a thief in the night. When Chawla was removed from the attack 15 overs later - 15 overs bowled in tandem with the magnificently rotund off-spinner Romesh Powar - England were 214 for five and defeat was inevitable. Ian Bell in mood to rid Edgbaston discomforts In pics: Tendulkar and Dravid cut loose While Chawla and Powar took four wickets between them - three of them crucial - Monty Panesar spent the afternoon and evening fetching drinks on and off and watching ruefully from the sidelines as England's one-dimensional seam attack were carted all over the ground. England may have misread the conditions at Bristol, which can happen (although it did seem strange that Panesar played at Southampton under leaden skies and on a pitch that nipped, but not at Bristol), but there still seems a reluctance to accept that a wicket-taking spinner is an essential part of any modern successful one-day team. England still find it far too easy to leave Panesar out. Faced with a crisis of their own after the Rose Bowl mauling, India, on the other hand, returned to their traditional strength, picking two spinners. That Bristol is an international cricket ground in miniature - the boundaries were no bigger than 70 yards away - was no deterrent. India have faith in spin; England do not. Since the 1992 World Cup brought floodlights, coloured clothing, white balls and pinch- hitting because of fielding restrictions at the start, that tournament may be said to have been the start of modern one-day cricket. Two factors have been common to teams who have won the World Cup since then: opening batsmen who have been able to exploit the start of the innings and mid-innings wicket-takers. England have been blessed with neither. Most successful teams have been able to call upon an aggressive spin option during the middle overs. Shane Warne missed Australia's last two World Cup campaigns, but they still had the left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg to confuse opposition batsmen, as he did Andrew Flintoff in Antigua. Warne, of course, rose to one of his greatest heights during the semi-final of the 1999 World Cup and Muttiah Muralitharan and Mushtaq Ahmed were central to their respective team's triumphs in 1996 and 1992. Since 1992 England have used any number of spinners, none yet who could be called consistent wicket-takers or match-winners. Ashley Giles has been the most prolific with 62 wickets in 55 matches (an average of 1.12 wickets per match). Robert Croft took 45 wickets in 50 matches (0.9); Richard Illingworth 30 wickets in 25 matches (1.2); Ian Blackwell 24 in 34 matches (0.7); Phil Tufnell 19 in 20 (0.95). Even in modern cricket English one-day spin has been all about containment and defence - twin aims which disappeared long ago among successful one-day teams. Such a record and such limited ambition from England's spinners is unsurprising given that they have never produced a match-winning role model. John Emburey has the most wickets (76) of any England spinner in the one-day game but these came in 61 matches, while Vic Marks's wickets/match ratio of 1.3 is the best of spinners with more than 20 wickets. Although Panesar himself has only 18 wickets in 20 matches so far (average 0.9 per match), he, surely, has the potential to be England's best modern one-day spinner. Two things must happen over the next three years if England are to go to the next World Cup in India with an attacking spin option and, therefore, a realistic chance of winning. Panesar needs to understand himself that he is an aggressive rather than a defensive option. It has been noticeable how much quicker and flatter he bowls in one-day cricket and how much more defensive his field-settings are. A change of mind-set is required from him. A change of mentality is also required from the management. Panesar must not be the fall guy every time ink is applied to the teamsheet. After all, he has only played 31 one-day matches for county or country in his life; just nine for Northants before he played for England. So he needs experience. Collingwood and the coach, Peter Moores, should now make a pledge to themselves than in all but the most extreme conditions Panesar must play. Making such a commitment would surely help make him feel not so much a spare part in one-day cricket as an integral component. By doing so, at least England will give themselves the best chance of finding one piece of the one-day jigsaw puzzle that has always eluded them.