Monty: I’ll earn a recall
eyeing return Spin bowler Monty Panesar insists he’s back to his “old self ” and ready to reclaim an England place after bouts of paranoia plagued his career.
The 33-year-old, who has not played for England since 2013, has been included in Northamptonshire’s squad for the new season.
Panesar spent the winter training with the county following his release from Essex last year and trouble with mental health issues.
The left-arm spinner, who has organised his own funding to cover wages, said: “I had paranoia issues.
“Mentally my confidence would go low and I would feel like my own teammates were out to get me.
“When you have mental health issues, people stay in denial for a long time and I did that. It took me a while to come out of that.
“But I suddenly realised, ‘ why am I behaving so abruptly with people?’. I just needed to talk through it and identify what was wrong.
“I have come out of that and feel a lot better about myself. People are now saying to me I am lot more together and more my old self.”
Panesar, who has 50 Test caps, has been working his way back to fitness after shoulder surgery and is already eyeing a call-up to tours of Bangladesh and India later in the year.
He said: “It is the reason I am doing these sessions and hard work. Step by step I hope I can get there because I still have huge ambitions.
“I still think I am good enough. If I am bowling at my best I am still able to bowl at that level and perform.”
Meanwhile, South Africa rugby legend Francois Pienaar has been called in to help revive the country’s cricketing form.
Pienaar, who won the world title in 1995, will sit on a four-member panel asked to conduct a “clinical review” into the national set-up.
Cricket South Africa chief Haroon Lorgat said: “Our recent per formances resulting in early exits for all our national teams at the ICC World T20 and the ICC U/19 CWC events is clearly not acceptable.”