ECB's plan to coach Panesar for India trip dashed

London, Nov 17 (IANS) England's plan to tutor Monty Panesar for the tour to India through bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed were dashed after England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) failed to secure a work permit for the former Pakistan spinner.

Mushtaq was controversially recruited by the ECB at the end of the season to fill as their spin bowling coach -- with the fine tuning of Panesar regarded as his most immediate priority.

ECB was under fire from International Cricket Council (ICC) for the appointment as Mushtaq's name surfaced in the match-fixing scandal.

ECB has still not secured a work permit for Mushtaq, who now cannot join Panesar as intended when the England performance squad leaves for an Indian training camp at the end of this week, The Guardian reported.

It is not clear whether the delay in getting the work permit is linked to criticism of Mushtaq's appointment by the ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat.

'We are aware of the sanction and criticism of Mushtaq within the Qayyum report. We will not tolerate corruption within our sport and expect the ECB to provide us with details and assurances that it will monitor Mushtaq's activities and performance during his tenure as a coach,' Lorgat said.

For Panesar, still one of the world's finest finger spinners but one whose development is widely agreed to have slowed, this is a second setback in little more than a fortnight. Initial plans that he should gain more experience of sub-continental pitches in Sri Lanka, with the Colombo-based side, Bloomfield, were scrapped at the last-minute.