England v Pakistan: Monty Panesar's perseverance gives England a slim chance But England persevered, and especially Monty Panesar. Never mind the "art" of spin bowling: far more important than artistry is the animal hunger to hang in, like a Jack Russell, to do a job for the captain and team, and to stay on, so that when the tailenders appear, the spinner can transform his figures from one for 80 to five for 120. England's next Test is in Galle. Book Panesar in for that one now, whether England select four bowlers or five. Galle has a rather more beautiful setting than Stalingrad, its fort rather better preserved, but the pitch is very similar to Dubai: a slow turner which requires the spinner to be not a slow bowler at all, but to turn the ball at 56mph and more, so it doesn't sit up to be hit. Although he has played only two Tests in this series, Panesar has finished as England's leading wicket-taker, with 14 wickets at 21 each, just ahead of the 13 by Swann and Stuart Broad. Just as valuably for Andrew Strauss, Panesar has been the thriftiest in this bunch of bowlers, conceding 2.14 runs an over - exceptional considering Younis Khan tried to get after him on Saturday evening. Yesterday it felt as though time was standing still as Panesar pushed the ball through at Azhar Ali during his nine-hour innings. But more importantly, the scoreboard stood still, because of the 163 balls that Panesar bowled at Ali, 127 were dot-balls, usually pushed back down the pitch or to extra-cover, without padding away. Panesar, it should now be accepted, does not do variation any more than Underwood did. He pushes the ball through, or else pushes the ball through a bit quicker; he goes round the wicket mostly to right-handers, and occasionally over. "It was very tough and very hot out there," Swann said. "I had to be patient," Ali added, and Panesar would have said the same. Ali has already played two match-winning innings against England, at the Oval with an unbeaten 92 in 2010, and in Abu Dhabi, when his 68 gave England enough rope to hang themselves in what Swann called "two hours of madness." His 157 will probably be his third, but Panesar's perseverance gave England the ghost of a chance.