So Sussex have released Monty Panesar, still considered by England as one of the two top left-arm spinners in the country. This would be considered a ludicrous decision in cricketing terms, even though Monty is having one of his bad runs. However, getting pissed and urinating on bouncers at a club is not the behaviour of a cricketing role model and he deserves punishment. Being allowed to leave for second division county smacks not of punishment but exasperation. I suspect the well-publicised boozing incident cannot be not an isolated incident, in which case popular Panesar has only himself to blame. Surely what should concern Sussex more is the curse of Hamilton-Brown. Where he hoes boozing, trouble seems to follow. At least Panesar lives on to play another match. Hopefully the new surroundings of Essex prove conducive to his rehabilitation.
Elsewhere, the start of Premier League football has brought Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker to the fore once more. No mean cricketer himself, the legend of Leicester (not to mention Everton, Spurs and Barcelona) must cede number one Lineker cricketing status to 28 year-old Matt (no relation). He made a duck on his first-class debut for Derbyshire two years ago this week and played his last exactly one year ago this week. Losing his contract took Lineker to Lincolnshire and made him available for the Unicorns in this summer's YB40 competition. Suddenly he has struck form. Last week, his run-a-ball 107 took the fight to Yorkshire and this weekend he flayed the Leicestershire attack for 132, two centuries in only six List A matches. Sadly he can't complete a 'hat-trick' as that was the Unicorns' last fixture in top-class domestic cricket. maybe a county contract will come his way for 2014. Perhaps he should take up left-arm spin.....
England's T20 squad for the Australia game has been announced and no surprise to see Michael Carberry's name on the list. His performances for Hampshire in the summer's Friends Life tournament made him a shoo-in for the side, but if picked for the first XI, who should he replace? I'd have picked the other in-form opener, Craig Kieswetter, drop Jos Buttler (so he can play for Somerset!) and drop both Lumb and Hales. Having seen David Willey's all-round talent on show on Finals Day, why couldn't the Northants man be given an opportunity to prove himself at this level? The rest of the side hardly looks a scary proposition!
