Lutonian Panesar can do little to stem another England defeat

Lutonian Monty Panesar could do little to stop England from falling 4-0 behind in their Ashes series as they were beaten by Australia by eight wickets in Melbourne this week.

By The Newsroom

Published 2nd Jan 2014, 10:00 BST

JPCT 210513 Sussex County cricket club at Horsham. Monty Panesar left and Steve Magoffin. Photo by Derek Martin

Following former Bedfordshire bowler Graeme Swann’s retirement from international cricket, the 31-year-old Essex man became England’s number one spinner.

However, he took just 1-59 over the two innings, grabbing David Warner’s wicket in the second, and contributed just two runs as England were well beaten.

Former Aussie leg-spinner Stuey MacGill said: “I think it’s hard to underestimate how lucky England are to have Monty waiting in the wings.

“He hasn’t played a great deal in recent years but he’s still one of the best around.”