error on findcontrol(MyPanel,panel)

[Peter Kaufman]

I am using the following code from ASP.NET Unleashed successfully in
an aspx page, but when I move it to a code behind page in VS I get
this error on the asterisked line when the code runs :

Private Sub btnNextPage_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e
As System.EventArgs) Handles btnNextPage.Click
Dim pnlPanel As panel
Dim strPanelName As String

' Hide Previous Panel
strPanelName = "pnlForm" & ViewState("CurrentPage")
*pnlPanel = FindControl( strPanelName )
pnlPanel.Visible = False
End Sub

System.InvalidCastException: Specified cast is not valid
Line 65: pnlPanel = FindControl(strPanelName)

strPanelName is resolving to the string "pnlForm1".
I also tried: pnlPanel = CType(FindControl(strPanelName), panel) -got
the same error

Help appreciated!

Peter