A Different View on Monty Panesar

[BoyBrumby]

So there was a basis for picking him, even if was arguably not over a long enough period. Way different to Plunkett & Mahmood, anyway.

Yeah, I think the fact that those two were given the keys to the Ferrari based on the flimsiest of evidence that they were fit to drive it, betrays Fletcher's ingrained bias. Both could bowl at over 85mph (which was seen as a prerequisite) and could bat slightly, so fitted his tenplate for "match-winner". I might be wrong but I believe Mahmood might not even have had an FC 5-for when he was first called to the colours.

The big-spinning Sikh SLA bowler with the comedy batting and fielding patently did not, as evidenced by the way he was shunted aside when dear old Ashley was even half-fit.

 

[Richard]

You also play cricket. But I wouldn't trust any of your opinions on that.

Your loss.

 

[Richard]

I disagree, tbh. When we had John Aldridge, he was head and shoulders above any other striker in the division. Now we happened to have a good keeper at the same time, but even if we haven't, the amount of goals Aldo got for us just by being able to score from any situation would have negated a poor keeper no problem - because we also had a very good keeper we managed to challenge for promotion to the Premiership, pretty much unthhinkable now. We've had good keepers most of the time since, but nobody of Aldo's class up front, and the difference is that we've gone from challenging to be in the Prem, to staying in League One and hovering in the midtable.

Well I don't know enough about The Mere Trans' players to offer much comment here, I can only speak from my own experiences. My experiences lead me to a different conclusion to you TBH, guess we'd best leave it at that.

My point is that they are always going to pick a spinner, whether you like it or not. And as such, the spinner(s) should receive specialist coaching, just like the quicks.

The point is though that the spinners receiving specialist coaching would be one error causing another error, both of which would handicap the side. Because even if picking a spinner every Test did improve the side (which it doesn't, it weakens it), having that spinner receive specialist coaching wouldn't. Because a coach cannot make a fingerspinner bowl effectively on a non-turning surface.

I actually think I was being conservative with 95%, but there is no real way of proving such a thing . I'll say this though, just because a player thinks he doesn't need coaching doesn't actually mean that he doesn't.

Of course it doesn't, there's plenty of players (mercifully less than there used to be) who underestimate the importance of coaches. However, as I say, wicketkeeping is the area where the ability of coaches to make an impact is most limited of all.

 

[Richard]

So there was a basis for picking him, even if was arguably not over a long enough period. Way different to Plunkett & Mahmood, anyway.

The decision to pick him to tour India in 2005/06 wasn't the worst you'll ever see, but the overreaction (of selectors, media, public and everyone else) to his deeds in both India that season and the home summer of 2006 was quite another matter.

As I said around the time, people got it into their heads that MSP was far better than he was or ever could be, and were always going to pay the price for it eventually.