Panesar to play club cricket in Sri Lanka

Monty Panesar will prepare for England's brief Test series in India in December by playing club cricket in Sri Lanka. He had hoped to be able to play in the Ranji Trophy but he was unable to overcome the rules on overseas players.

"He wants to learn there through experience," Peter Moores, England's coach, told the Daily Telegraph. "He's been before and he knows there are tough conditions. He hopes to learn a lot and prepare himself for the Tests in India."

ECB performance director David Parsons, who has worked closely with Panesar, told the Guardian: "The idea to go to Sri Lanka was made jointly by Monty, Peter and myself. He's the second ranked spinner in the world behind Muttiah Muralitharan. He's been playing for less than three years, he's got over 100 wickets and he's still only 26."

Panesar will play for the Bloomfield club in Colombo for four weeks, assuming that a dispute between the board and local clubs can be resolved.