England spinner Monty Panesar relishes return to Test cricket after claiming wicket against Pakistan on day one

Panesar looked nervous, perhaps sensing the onus was on him to bowl well on a dry pitch that turned in the first hour of the day.

When he dropped a catch off his own bowling his frustration was channelled into his next delivery which he fired in to bowl Mohammad Hafeez. It was a sign of the maturity Panesar has developed since his move to Sussex and spell playing grade cricket in Sydney before Christmas.

"When you're out of the England team you wouldn't be human if you didn't wonder if it was ever going to happen again, but these things do creep in and you do need good people around you to help you get through it," he said.

"There were times when self doubt crept in, and you wonder is it ever going to happen, and that is where people like Mark Robinson (Sussex coach) and Mushy (Mushtaq Ahmed, England spin bowling coach) have been great in protecting my self belief."

Pakistan batsman Taufeeq Umar admitted it was England’s day and the team’s coach, Mohsin Khan, had strong words for his side, particularly young batsman Asad Shafiq, who threw his wicket away on 58.

"Any player, whether it's a senior player or a young player, if somebody's playing for their country they should understand the responsibilities of playing for the team," Khan said.

"I had a go at him - in a loving way, no doubt - but he's been told very seriously this is not the way to get out, especially when the team is struggling to get a better score."

Monty Panesar stakes claim for Test return with five wickets but England fail to convince against PCB XI

“I’ve bowled 29 overs today so, if they go for two spinners, I’m ready to play,” said Panesar, whose last Test was in 2009. “I feel I’m getting better all the time as a spinner.”

Picking Panesar alongside Swann for the opening Test is not a fait accompli. Panesar succeeded on what was essentially a sixth-day pitch (combining the last three-day game, two days of this match and the day off between).

What should concern ­England is Swann’s limited threat. He has taken only four wickets in 54 overs, a return that in the dark old days of the 1980s would have made him vulnerable to the chop.

“Graeme is the No 1 spinner and he’ll play,” Panesar said. “If they look to play a second spinner, then I’m ready. But we’ve also got very skilful bowlers in our pacemen so we have many permutations.”

That point was amplified by Chris Tremlett, who bowled well for his two wickets, outperforming Graham Onions despite being asked to bowl his opening spell into a minor sandstorm, whipped up by strong morning winds.

In the spirit of these three-day games, the PCB XI declared their innings, allowing Strauss and Jonathan Trott to bat out the final session. Given a chance to start against pace and not spin, Trott responded with an unbeaten 39 as they extended England’s lead to 151 going into the final day.

Scoreboard:

England 1st innings: 269-9 decl (A. Cook 133, M. Prior 46; Yasir Shah 5-75, Mohammad Talha 4-43)

----

PCB XI 1st innings:

• Nasir Jamshed lbw b Onions 12

• Afaq Raheem lbw b Tremlett 17

• Mohammad Ayub c Prior b Panesar 33

• Usman Salahuddin c Prior b Tremlett 23

• Fawad Alam c Strauss b Panesar 7

• Haris Sohail lbw b Panesar 6

• Sarfraz Ahmed c Trott b Swann 0

• Yasir Shah c Swann b Panesar 9

• Mohammad Talha c Prior b Panesar 31

• Mohammad Khalil not out 1

Extras: (b3, lb6, w2) 11

Total: (for nine wkts) 200

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Jamshed), 2-40 (Raheem), 3-78 (Salahuddin), 4-91 (Alam), 5-106 (Sohail), 6-106 (Sarfraz), 7-110 (Ayub), 8-119 (Shah), 9-173 (Talha)

Bowling: Onions 13-3-52-1 (w2), Tremlett 14-7-30-2, Swann 18-5-42-1, Panesar 29-12-57-5, Petersen 5-0-10-0

Overs: 79

----

England 2nd innings:

Extras: (b4, nb2, w1) 7

Total: (for no loss) 82

Bowling: Talha 6-1-32-0 (nb2, w1), Khalil 5-2-12-0, Hasan 7-0-26-0, Shah 3-0-5-0, Ayub 1-0-3-0

Overs: 22