Monty Panesar is one of the most recognisable and popular England cricketers of his generation. Monty played 50 Tests for England taking 167 wickets with his left arm spin.
Monty made his First Class debut for Northamptonshire in 2001 against Leicestershire. He showed signs of what was to come by taking 8 wickets. His performances for Northamptonshire led to an England call-up in January 2006 when he was included on the tour of India. He made his Test debut against India at Nagpur taking 3 wickets. His first wicket was that of Indian Demi-god Sachin Tendulkar, who later presented Monty with the signed match ball. He made his home debut later in 2006 when he faced Sri Lanka at Lords.
Monty had a fantastic Test career for England taking 167 wickets in 50 Matches. Whilst not considered a natural with the bat his last wicket stand at Cardiff in 2009 with Jimmy Anderson to save the Test Match against Australia will live long in the memory. His last Test for England was in Australia in December 2013.
Apart from numerous team awards Monty picked up many personal accolades, most notably Wisden Cricketer of the Year (2007) and Beard of the Year (2006).
In recent years monty has been a key member of the Lashings All Stars travelling the country with other cricketing legends such as Gordon Green and Devon Malcom entertaining cricket fans.
He has now started to carve out his second career in the media. His knowledge and humour have made a regular contributor on a wide range of channels and shows including BBC, TalkSport, and Good Morning Britain. He has also been involved in light entertainment featuring on Dancing on Ice 2018, where he involvement was curtailed by a broken ankle picked up in training.
