Panesar maintains one-day ambition

Off-spinner Monty Panesar is aiming to regain his place in England's one-day side

Monty Panesar has reiterated his determination to reclaim his place in the England one-day international side.

The Northamptonshire spinner is well established as the country’s premier slow bowler in the Test arena but will sit out the forthcoming limited-overs series against South Africa.

The 26-year-old has 114 wickets to his name after 33 Tests but his one-day performances have been less productive, with just 24 victims from 26 outings.

He has not played a one-day international since the series in Sri Lanka last October and that is something he wishes to address, believing it could have benefits for all aspects of his game.

Panesar said: “Obviously I would love to be part of the one-dayers right now because I feel it would enhance my development.

“Just the sheer one-day game, you have to add a slightly different thinking to your cricket.

“But I am going back to Northants, playing as much cricket as I can and looking forward to developing other areas of my game, which excites me.

“I am looking forward to playing for Northants until the end of the season.”

Panesar’s exclusion from the one-day set-up means he is unlikely to be involved in the Stanford Twenty20 for 20 match against Sir Allen Stanford’s ‘Super Stars’ in Antigua this autumn.

Though he could miss out on a potential £500,000 jackpot, he is excited by the concept and believes the growing popularity of the Twenty20 game can only be good for the sport as a whole.

Panesar added: “It definitely excites everyone because of the context of the game, what it’s about.

“If you drop a catch you could lose everything; if you take the catch you get everything. It’s pretty black and white so it’s quite exciting.

“I think Twenty20 is exciting. It adds another dimension to cricket and, more importantly, I think it is getting more people involved in the game.

“There are spectators out there who might not have been interested in cricket. It’s catching more people and more youngsters are getting involved in the game.

“That’s probably the more important side. More people are getting involved and that has a positive impact.”