Upheaval in England's coaching and captaincy structure is partly to blame for a dip in Monty Panesar's England form, according to his Northants coach.

The spinner was dropped for two of the five Tests in the recent West Indies tour, and captured just six wickets in two Tests against India in December.

Kevin Pietersen resigned as England captain in January while coach Peter Moores was sacked after a public feud.

"When it wasn't so disruptive, he was doing well," said coach David Capel.

"There has been a very disruptive period of time in the England dressing room.

"Some people handle things in different ways. I wonder at times whether that has been a contributory factor.

606: DEBATE He is an OK bowler but certainly not Test standard gatehousecricket

"I'm not going to say what I think Monty needs as an individual. But I'm aware how he ticks and what gets the best out of him.

"For any cricketer, it is an advantage to have a stable existence within the dressing room - anyone would thrive on that."

Pietersen's resignation came after his criticisms of Moores' stewardship were leaked to the press.

Reports suggested that England players had been split on whether to support their coach or captain once the rift was made public.

Having been dropped after the abandoned second Test in Antigua, Panesar returned for the fifth and final Test in the Caribbean, taking 4-148 in the match - but has been criticised as too one-dimensional for the international game.

In the first Test against India in Chennai he was hit for 105 runs without a wicket as the hosts comfortably chased down a second-innings target of 387.

But Panesar believes that interim England coach Andy Flower has helped him add to his repertoire.

"I'd been out for a couple of Test matches and managed to work a bit more closely with Andy Flower, a world-class player of spin," he said.

"All the best spinners are very adept at making the right tactical decisions. And I think when we got to the last Test my variation of speed was much greater."

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