Monty wins over the man on the street if not his coach

MANCHESTER, England, July 30 (Reuters) Perhaps the Barmy Army, England's travelling band of supporters, should select the national team in future.

If the English media rumour mill is to be believed, Monty Panesar was in danger of missing the victorious second test against Pakistan at Old Trafford.

England's coach Duncan Fletcher, so the theory goes, favours feisty, all-round cricketers. Panesar may be able to bowl but he is not yet much of a bat, his fielding is comical and he can not even celebrate properly either. Every time he takes a wicket he hops about like a disjointed new-born lamb.

In short, he does not exactly fit the Fletcher blueprint of an England cricketer.

The uncapped Jamie Dalrymple, in contrast, is just the ticket. A useful batsman, he also bowls neat off spin and fields like a tiger. Fletcher loved his nuggety attitude and intelligence when he made his debut for the England one-day side this season.

After the drawn first test against Pakistan at Lord's -- when Panesar notably failed to bowl Pakistan out on a fifth-day pitch -- Dalrymple was added to the England squad, fuelling suggestions that he might be preferred for the second.

The Barmy Army would have been furious if he had been.

They simply love Panesar, the first Sikh to play for England. He is cheered whenever he gets near the ball and sometimes, indeed, when he does not get near it at all.

''Monty, Monty, give us a wave,'' they chanted during the second test at Old Trafford. And he did, while managing to still look shy behind the camouflage of his bushy beard.

The Army, it seems, see something in Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, the 24-year-old from Luton's full name, that the coach does not.

SOMETHING SPECIAL Their vocal support is not based on ridicule, despite Monty's propensity to let the occasional ball between his legs or to swipe about hopefully with his bat. They think he is a rather special bowler who should be excused his other idiosyncrasies.

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