By Sam Sheringham

June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Monty Panesar, dubbed the ``Sikh of Tweak'' by U.K. newspapers, became England's highest-ranked spin bowler in 30 years after taking a series-leading 23 wickets against the West Indies.

Panesar, a 25-year-old Northamptonshire left-armer, surged to sixth in the world rankings today from 12th and earned praise from Derek Underwood, the last England spin bowler to feature as high in the sport's elite.

``Already he is a world-class spinner,'' Underwood, who took the last of his 297 Test wickets in 1982, told the Daily Mirror. ``I would love to think that he will go and pass me in the wicket-taking list. He certainly has the ability.''

Panesar's emergence as a spinner capable of dismissing leading batmen on all surfaces has given England's attack a dimension it has lacked for several years. Australia's leg- spinner Shane Warne, who retired from international cricket in January, and Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan are Test cricket's all-time highest-wicket takers.

Since bursting into the team last year, Panesar has taken 65 wickets in 17 Tests, six fewer than Underwood at the same stage of his career. Panesar has six five-wicket hauls to his name, one more than his predecessor Ashley Giles managed in 54 elite matches.

Throughout England's 3-0 series victory, the Windies batsmen struggled to cope with Panesar's range of flighted, turning deliveries. He snared six first-innings wickets at Lord's, his first 10-wicket match haul in Manchester and finished off the tourists with a four-wicket burst in Durham yesterday afternoon.

`Unbelievable Series'

While a dry pitch full of cracks in Manchester was conducive to spin, Panesar's displays amid damp, overcast weather at Lord's and Durham showed he was capable of deceiving batsmen whatever the conditions.

``It's been an unbelievable series,'' Panesar told the post-match presentation. ``I feel very lucky with the way things have gone.''

With the final Test drifting toward a draw yesterday afternoon, as England's seamers failed to break a partnership between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo, captain Michael Vaughan turned to Panesar.

Bravo went on the attack, lofting Panesar to the boundary before trying to repeat the shot and skying a catch to Ryan Sidebottom in the deep. Panesar then dismissed Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin in quick succession before ending the innings by bowling Chanderpaul, who had batted for almost 18 hours in the series without losing his wicket.

`Perfect' Delivery

Panesar's delivery to remove Ramdin drifted toward the right-hander's pads, dipped and spun sharply off the turf to beat the bat and clip the top of his off stump. Vaughan called it the ``perfect ball.''

``That delivery will be shown to left-arm spinners for a long time,'' said Vaughan. ``He's going to put a lot of good players under pressure.''

Panesar, the first Sikh to play for England, made an instant impact in Tests, claiming record century-maker Sachin Tendulkar as his first victim in March last year. Dropped in favor of Giles for the first two Tests of the Ashes series in Australia, he took five wickets on the opening day of the third match in Perth.

Panesar, who wears a patka head-covering and has a thick beard, is celebrated by fans for greeting his wickets with a leap and a wide-eyed charge at teammates. His tendency to drop catches and make fielding blunders has added to his popularity, prompting U.K. media to coin the phrase ``Monty-mania.''

Panesar's next challenge will be a three-Test series starting July 19 against India, whose batsmen have honed their skills on the spin-friendly pitches of the Asian subcontinent.

``He will know there are going to be tougher days to come and he will have to cope with them just as well as he has done with everything else so far,'' said Underwood. ``He will be in the England team for many years to come.''

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