When Ashley Giles talks about Monty Panesar, the man who claimed the veteran spinner’s place in the England cricket team, one would naturally expect a tone of bitterness. But the strapping left-arm spinner spoke highly about his successor.
"Monty is still developing. He has got a fine career ahead of him and it all depends upon how he learns and improves from here. That will be very interesting for English cricket as he can develop into a long-term player for us, and he is young as well.
“As a spin bowler he will take a bit more time to adapt and learn to different situations, but I am sure he will be able to do that," Giles, who has taken 143 wickets from 54 Tests, said.
A hip injury in February last year forced him to sit out of the India tour and since then Panesar has grown from strength to strength, making it a difficult proposition for Giles to mount a comeback. But the Surrey player sounded confident of another stint with the England team.
"I had to withdraw from the last Ashes to be near my ailing wife. But misfortune struck me in the shape of a recurring hip injury. I guess I will be out of action for most part of the 2007 season as well. But I feel I have some cricket left in me, hopefully I can take it from a start in the county games," he said.
Best moment
On his best moment so far in his career, Giles said, "Of course, our Ashes win in 2005. That was a great moment for all of us. Personally, I managed to dismiss all the top Australian batsmen – on different occasions – in that series. That was a really good moment for me."
Giles had a word of praise for Kevin Pietersen, who is in top form at the moment.
"KP is a good player and he is a special guy in the dressing room. He can change the course of a game with his bat at any stage. He surely is on his way to greatness and he will be the one to watch out for in the future."