Monty pays price with blisters and cuts to get spin on bowl

London, July 25 (UNI) Everything has a price and Monty Panesar's prodigious turn that has earned him a bagful of victims have also not come without cuts and blisters on those huge hands of his.

The ''Sikh of Tweak'' has revealed that giving such a huge rip to the cricket ball has forced him to use surgical spirit just to get him through a Test match.

Panesar undoubtedly has the largest pair of hands you are likely to see on the field as at least three cricket balls can fit into his palm. But cuts and blisters are the price he has to pay for producing the prodogious turn that leaves the batsman confused.

''I get lots of blisters and cuts on my fingers,'' said Monty.

''So I put surgical spirit on them to keep them well looked after.

''Hands and fingers are so important and they can get pretty painful after a few days of bowling and I actually do a lot of finger exercises. It's been raining all summer, so I've needed to stay entertained while we've been off the square and I've mostly been watching Wimbledon or playing darts,'' said the man who snapped up Sachin for 16, ending the Master Blaster's dreams of clocking a century at Lords, the 'Mecca of Cricket'.

Even when he's not bowling, he can be spotted keeping his precious fingers as loose and as nimble as possible - possibly with a game of darts.

The unassuming 25-year-old from Luton, says he likes to keep things simple and does not even bother to watch videos of his opponents.

''I don't study videos of batsmen. We're playing India but I won't have been watching Sachin Tendulkar, looking for weaknesses. I believe in keeping it simple.

''The key to applying pressure is rhythm. If you set a good rhythm and keep getting the ball in the right areas, you can make it hard to get the ball away and tie the batsman up.

''When this happens, you get a feeling about a batsman and that's when you start setting them up to take their wicket,'' England's best spinner told 'The Mirrior'.

Although most batsman would love to read his mind, he too offers an insight into the art of spin bowling.

''The key to spin bowling isn't turning the ball,'' insisted Panesar. ''It's actually all about getting the length right.

It's the variation in length that gives the deception to the batsman.

''It gives you an opportunity to turn the ball and beat the bat. If you're getting the length wrong or not varying it enough, the batsman will pick off your turn.

On what he finds tough while bowling to top quality batsman, he says ''The hardest thing to do is to deceive a batsman in length.'' And what about the mind games a la Shane Warne? ''I'll leave that to Shane Warne. That comes with experience.'' UNI