Fletcher backs Panesar

There is no doubting Monty Panesar's class as a spinner © Getty Images

England coach Duncan Fletcher is endorsing Monty Panesar to put in the hard work to ensure his fielding standards match his exemplary
spin-bowling skills, and become an all-round contributor.

Northamptonshire’s left-arm spinner has made an impressive start to his Test career with the ball, demonstrating the poise and confidence to suggest he could have a long international career ahead of him.

But if he is to become the long-term successor to injury victim Ashley Giles, England’s premier spinner, Panesar will have to improve on both his batting and fielding if he is going to thrive at international level.

Apart from a determined innings of nine on his debut against India in Nagpur, when he batted for 66 minutes to help Paul Collingwood add 66 runs for the final wicket, his batting has not flourished yet.

Panesar’s fielding has come under scrutiny during last week’s six-wicket second Test victory over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.

“He obviously knows he’s under a lot of pressure,” conceded England coach Fletcher. “He’s working hard at his fielding, he’s working hard at his batting and we’re just going to have to monitor that over the next couple of months.

“He’s bowled well for us and he’s an orthodox spinner and he’s got to make sure he improves his batting and fielding, but he’s well aware of that and he works very, very hard at it.”

Panesar works on his fielding

While he impressed with the ball in both innings, Panesar missed a catch at mid-off to dismiss Lasith Malinga in the first innings before the Sri Lankan had scored.

But Fletcher stressed Panesar is determined to improve as an all-round cricketer and has a strong work ethic to try and achieve that.

“He’s always calling a coach across to work on certain aspects of it, but it’s also crucial he does have some breaks just as all the other players do,” said Fletcher.

“We are working hard to try and improve his game and as long as he’s trying his damnedest and he’s working hard at his game, that’s the main thing.

“We’ve picked him as a spinner and he’s picked to play as a spinner and do his job as a spinner and as long as he’s trying there’s nothing more you can ask of an individual.

“You have to look at the package and what is best for England at the moment. We’ve lost a lot of experienced players and we need a spinner and you have to work out who’s going to do the best job.”

Panesar was included in an unchanged 12-man squad for the final Test against Sri Lanka, which begins at Trent Bridge on Friday, as England attempt to wrap up their first series win since the Ashes.

He will again be put through extra fielding and catching practice in an effort to improve his technique and Fletcher added: “We can’t afford for anybody to drop any catches.

“No one tries to drop them so we’ve got to make sure they work at their game and improve their game - we’ve only been working with Monty for a very short period of time.”