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Former England spinner Monty Panesar admits he used mints and the zip on his trousers to alter the condition of the ball.

Monty Panesar has revealed that England's bowlers used mints to alter the condition of the ball and assist with reverse swing.

"We all tried to change the condition of the ball, because reverse swing has such a huge impact," Panesar wrote in his autobiography, The Full Monty, which has been serialised in the Daily Mail.

"When I came into the England side, my job was to prepare the ball for the seamers.

"They'd say, 'Listen mate, if you want to bowl with us it's on one condition. Make sure you don't get your sweaty hands on our shiny side.

"Opening bowler Jimmy Anderson would say: 'I just want you to keep that ball as dry as possible."

The spinner, who featured in the Ashes-winning series in 2009 and 2010-11 said he also used the zip on his trousers to rough up the ball and admits his actions were probably against the spirit of the game.

"Whether we broke the laws depends on how you interpret them," he said.

"We found that mints and sun cream had an effect on the saliva, and that helped the ball to reverse.

"I might also have 'accidentally' caught the ball on the zip of my trouser pocket to rough it up a little.

"That was probably a hairline fracture of the spirit of the game, even if the laws said you were allowed to 'use your uniform'."