Monty Panesar Shines as England Beat the West Indies in Manchester


Monty Panesar is one of England's top cricket bowlers. This is his summer to break through and become a big star. Yesterday, he made that breakthrough. He scored his first 10 wicket test, which finished on Monday. That's ten outs -four in the first innings and six in the second innings- during the five-day match. He did give-up 137 runs in the second innings, contributing to the Windies' near-record 394 runs for a losing team's second at-bat. But 10 K's puts his name on a board of England achievements somewhere, and he earned it. He is doing some great things and like the England team of 2005, he is putting Cricket on the back cover of the tabloids again. I cannot wait for India to visit England for a test series in July. But until then, there is still one more test to play against the West Indies this weekend at Riverside (Durham County, I believe, near some castle).


My favorite England fast bowler, Steve Harmison, notched his 200th test wicket. His location was off in the first innings, where he struggled to get 2 wickets. But he recovered to earn a respectable 6 wickets while giving-up 150 runs total in the match.