‘I just can't tell you how thrilled I am with the selection,' says the 31-year-old, in his first interview since his alcohol-fuelled antics made front-page news. ‘It's an incredible boost I needed as a cricketer and as a person, after a chapter in my life I'm ashamed of. The support I've had from everyone has been overwhelming and my only focus now is to repay them for their amazing faith in me.'
Panesar's summer nosedived when he went out drinking with some Sussex team-mates on August 5, a night that ended when he was thrown out of Shoosh nightclub and the incidents with the bouncers.
He was charged with drunk and disorderly behaviour, fined £90 and subsequently left Sussex CCC to finish the season on loan at Essex.
‘It was a bad night that went completely wrong,' says Panesar. ‘We had a few days off, went to a barbecue for a team analyst who was leaving and then carried on in some bars. I was with a few of my team- mates, Rory Hamilton-Brown, Chris Nash, Ben Brown, but none of this was their fault.
