Monty!

Andrew Miller of Cricinfo has written a delightful article on the exploits of England spinner Monty Panesar. Such was England's domination of the Test against Sri Lanka, that the most entertaining things were Monty's inept displays of fielding, followed by ironic cheers from the Lord's crowd.

Tall, spindly, and unsure of what to do with his limbs, Monty in the outfield resembles a wide-eyed baby giraffe on the plains of the Serengeti. A cricket ball hurtling across the turf - or, even worse, scudding through the air - is a predator to be feared, and avoided if at all possible.

In the first session of play, Monty let a ball roll between his legs at mid on for a single. Two balls later, desperate to atone for his earlier misjudgement, he chased a straight drive valiantly to long on, made a brilliant dive and stopped the ball inches from the boundary. Alas, as he went to pick up the ball, he had absentmindedly left his left foot over the boundary. Cheers all round!

More gems in the article. Click here to read it.