England fans quickly warm to new Monty

Cricket/Test Match: The rapid transformation of Monty Panesar from figure of fun to hero has been astounding. Six months ago, inked in for the tour of India, he was billed as a useful bowler whose fielding pratfalls and batting slapstick would have attracted the attention of Gerry Cottle. Spectators patronised him, while wise heads spoke of the verbal battering he would receive in Australia and counselled a more resilient character in his place.

But as he made his way relentlessly through the Pakistan top order on Saturday with as fine a display of predatory finger spin as has been seen from an England bowler for several decades, the roars of approval from the Old Trafford crowd were in recognition of a superb technical bowler, young and still learning the craft.

Panesar's second-innings display, with five for 72, exploited a pitch that had bounce and turned - ideal, in theory, for any spinner.

From the first ball he applied pressure, and Andrew Strauss, for the first time enjoying a match unencumbered by the "stand-in captain" tag and flourishing as a result, gave him his head, as had Andrew Flintoff on his debut in Nagpur. Every bowler needs to know that trust has been placed in him, Panesar no less than anyone, and the delight as each wicket fell was unrestrained.

It is a shame, then, that Duncan Fletcher seems unconvinced still by a fellow who, with Steve Harmison, has twice bowled out one of the strongest batting sides in the business. That Panesar has played at all this summer apparently was down to the selectors digging their heels in, and the renowned pragmatist Fletcher is starting to transmogrify into a curmudgeon.

The England coach wants all-round contributions from all his cricketers, which is a noble ideal but should take secondary consideration to the fact that Panesar has now taken 25 wickets in eight Tests, all but two, if memory serves, dismissed in the area around the bat, with two five-wicket hauls. Some of the world's finest players of spin have succumbed, starting with Sachin Tendulkar. Eight of his victims have Test match double centuries and two of them triples. Three times Mohammad Yousuf, a massive scorer against England, has fallen to him, drawn forward and stumped on Saturday.

He is learning to find the right pace for different surfaces - at Old Trafford he pushed it through faster than normal - is demandingly accurate and gives the ball a real tweak.

Successively he has earned the respect, if not of Fletcher, then certainly of the Indians, Sri Lankans and now Pakistanis.

In his quiet moments, though, Fletcher might be starting to wonder if, because of the absence of Flintoff, he has not stumbled across an alternative strategy to help retain the Ashes this winter. Hitherto it seemed inconceivable that England would not want to go into a match with anything other than five front-line bowlers, hence Fletcher's eagerness to get Ashley Giles back in the interest of balance. But the manner in which four bowlers, or two to be precise, won the Old Trafford Test so utterly convincingly must make it plain that at least some of the five Tests down under - Perth, for example - can accommodate only four bowlers.

Panesar, who so far has conceded runs at well under three per over, can bowl long, accurate, tight spells, which would allow the three pace bowlers their respite. There is certainly a case for England playing their best players rather than trying to find others to fit a blueprint.

For England and Pakistan there is the third Test, starting at Headingley on Friday, to consider, and this morning England will announce their squad. Changes to this are unlikely although, depending on the weather prognosis for the match, there is a chance that Jon Lewis could make the final XI instead of Sajid Mahmood, who was deemed largely superfluous to requirements last week. The absence of the injured Liam Plunkett could also open the door to a potential rival in Stuart Broad, who has the makings of a fine fast bowler and already looks a better batsman than the Durham man.

There will also be the usual debate about Geraint Jones, although this time it will centre not on his wicketkeeping, which for two Tests now has been first-rate, but his fitness.

A delivery from Mohammad Sami caused a hairline fracture on the tip of his right ring finger while batting at Old Trafford, and he kept wicket in the second innings with the digit partially anaesthetised. Keepers are used to such inconvenience, however: it is said that the former West Indies keeper Jeff Dujon broke every bone in his hand at some stage yet missed but a single game. And Jones will not wish to relinquish a position he has struggled so hard to retain. Only if it affects his batting will he not play.

In that case, although James Foster of Essex has been touted in some quarters and has improved beyond recognition since his premature elevation to the England side some years ago, it would be cruel and inconsistent not to have on standby Chris Read who, on the sidelines, has done all that has been asked of him.