Panesar took six wickets at an average of 86.66 for Northamptonshire

Shane Warne has urged England to pick spinner Adil Rashid ahead of Monty Panesar for the first Ashes Test against Australia in Cardiff.

The series opener starts on 8 July and conditions at Sophia Gardens are expected to suit slow bowlers.

Former Australia leg-spinner Warne said: "I believe Rashid is ready to play Test cricket and he should play in the first Test match with Graeme Swann.

"I would be preparing a flat wicket that turns and playing two spinners."

Panesar toured the Caribbean as England's number one spinner in February but took only five wickets.

That was followed by a spell back in county cricket with Northamptonshire, which only managed to yield six wickets at an alarming average of 86.66.

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Warne praised Panesar but believes the 27-year-old has not improved since making his Test debut in 2006.

"He's a wonderful bowler, he has been fantastic for cricket, he's exciting," added Warne. "But he's stayed the same, he's one of those guys that has played one Test 30 times.

"You're all going to have your fluctuations in form but you want to see an improvement."

Swann was England's leading wicket-taker in the Caribbean after taking 19 scalps at an average of 24.05.

The 30-year-old was preferred to Panesar for the return two-Test series in May when England opted for only one spinner.

It now looks like a case of who will partner Swann and Warne revealed he had been impressed by the progress Yorkshire leg-spinner Rashid, 21, has made in recent seasons.

"What England have done very well is not rush Rashid," he added.

"They have let him learn his craft. He has been very lucky to play with Yorkshire captain Michael Vaughan for a limited period of time. I think he's ready now to make that step.

"He has performed very well in the limited opportunities he has had in Twenty20, which is really a spinner's game."

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