Panesar told to slow down

Quick, quick, slow: Monty Panesar hasn't quite found the right pace to bowl during the early stages of the Ashes tour © Getty Images

Monty Panesar has been encouraged to give the ball more air and slow his speed as he competes with England's senior spinner, Ashley Giles, for a place in their starting XI at Brisbane next week.

The decision could be made as early as Friday morning if one of them is left out of England's final three-day match against South Australia. Dan Cullen, the South Australia offspinner, and Terry Jenner, who is Shane Warne's bowling mentor, have both noticed changes in Panesar's bowling and Phil Jaques, a former Northamptonshire team-mate, mentioned that his loop was missing after scoring two centuries against England in the opening tour matches.

Panesar bowled just three overs against the Prime Minister's XI at Canberra, and took only one wicket against New South Wales at the SCG. Giles managed three victims in the three-day match and his superior batting and fielding has made him a favourite with Duncan Fletcher.

Les Burdett, the head groundsman at the Adelaide Oval, has unveiled a dry pitch with prominent bare patches at both ends for the three-day game. Cullen, who spent a month bowling in the nets during Australia's win in the Champions Trophy in India, said Panesar will need to slow down considerably with his deliveries.

"It's going to be interesting to see how he bowls here; he's done fairly well bowling for England in Test matches in England and India on pitches that are more receptive to spin if you fire the ball in quicker," he told reporters Thursday.

"In Australia the wickets are a lot harder and if you bowl too quick over here you won't turn the ball, so you need to give the ball more of a chance to spin by flighting it and bowling it higher." Jenner, who has advised Warne throughout his long career, said Panesar was bowling too quickly in England's morning training session on Thursday.

Probable team Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff (capt), Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles or Monty Panesar, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, James Anderson.