Monty Panesar.
England international spin bowler Monty Panesar, who is
also a postgraduate student, caused quite a stir yesterday
afternoon when he sat a two-hour examination at the University
of Otago, in Dunedin.
Panesar has been selected as part of the English squad for
the first test against New Zealand, which starts at the
University Oval, in Dunedin, tomorrow.
Although he is far from home, he is keen to continue his
English university studies for a master of business
administration (MBA) degree in sports, from Loughborough
University, in Leicestershire.
While he has been in New Zealand, his lectures from
Loughborough University are being recorded and transmitted to
him so he can keep on top of his studies.
Panesar said the Sports MBA programme at Loughborough had
given him ''great insight into the challenges of sports
management''.
The flexibility of the course had enabled him to ''continue
to play cricket professionally alongside my studies''.
Ian Lafferty, director of executive programmes at the Otago
University School of Business, said it had provided a
supervisor to enable Panesar to sit a two-hour examination
for his UK degree, at the Otago MBA suite yesterday.
''It was certainly something different; a major buzz of
excitement for the [Otago MBA] staff,'' he said.
- john.gibb@odt.co.nz
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