Cricket Betting: Don't let spin bowling die a slow death

Bat and ball / Paul Moon / 27 August 2009 / Leave a Comment

Ajantha Mendis is the brightest spinning prospect around and one of the few twirlers who is a genuine match-winner.

"Spinners should demonstrate a love for their art - it should consume them. Bradman used to sleep with 2lbs 4ozs of willow – perhaps our emerging spinners should do likewise with a piece of 5 1/2 oz leather."

Paul Moon bemoans the lack of upcoming spin bowling talent in the game and urges the powers-that-be to do their bit so we don't face a cricketing world without another Shane Warne or a Muralitharan.

English spin bowling has such a marginal influence on the county game that it has legitimised a trend of decline. Because the county game should only exist to further Test cricket, it is time to fully embrace a 'new benefits of spin philosophy' and recognise its greater impact on the Test scene. It should not be used as an addendum.

The ECB, captains and coaches have a duty and responsibility to help and develop young spinners through encouragement and by using them more imaginatively. More young players should be dissuaded from bowling pace in favour of spin.

Initiatives are helpful to a point but a committed and dynamic realisation is needed. Arranging a Shane Warne masterclass for the likes of Will Beer of Sussex and Max Waller of Somerset at The Oval last week goes some way to do this. But relying on Sky Sports to come up with these initiatives which result as much from the need to fill air time as a desire to promote spin bowling, surely isn't the solution.

It is not only England who are currently suffering from a dearth of quality spin bowlers. The West Indies (Lance Gibbs apart) and New Zealand's spin cupboard is traditionally bare and there seems little effort to address this. With diffidence, Cricket South Africa (CSA) send some of their promising spinners to India for a 12-day coaching camp paid for by a businessman and even Pakistan, the pioneers of spin, do not have a Saqlain or Qadir in sight.

Cricket Australia's situation has been well documented. Inexplicably they have played eight of the last 17 Tests without a specialist spinner. It was interesting to read that Jason Krejza (12 wickets on Test debut against India) easily topped a recent poll (52%) when asked who was the best spinner down under. This highlighted their plight in selection and the spinning stocks department though my friends in Australia have told me to keep a close eye on Sydney teenage leg-spinner Javed Badyari.

The most promising spinner is 24-year old Ajantha Mendis from Sri Lanka. We cannot label him as a particular type of spinner precisely because his repertoire includes the off-break, the leg-break, the googly and the flipper. He bowls these at different paces and trajectories and with different grips, actions and disguise. If that was not enough he has also resurrected a delivery called the carrom ball. Take a look.

In September 2008 he won the "Emerging Player of the Year" award at the ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai and with mentor Muralitharan (aged 36) assisting him, he will become the next really dangerous spinner in world cricket. He has played just eight Tests to date but has the necessary guile to torment batsmen for years to come. This exciting talent will join Hampshire as their overseas player for 2010 and I cannot wait to see him bowl live!

Indian Ravindra Jadeja (20) has just broken through into the shorter format of the game and he looks another emerging star. Currently regarded as an all-rounder who bowls slow left arm spin he looked the part when included in the Rajasthan Royals set-up, the inaugural IPL Champions.

Deserved of a mention is leg-spinner Amit Mishra (26) who claimed a five-wicket haul on debut against Australia. He looks more of a stop gap selection but we can expect this confident and attacking cricketer to feature in future Tests though probably more so on the dry pitches of India.

Good news domestically is the emergence of English leg-spinner Adil Rashid (21). Though he is a genuine all-rounder, one would hope that his love of batting does not hinder his wrist spin. He tops the batting averages for Yorkshire and is second behind Hoggard in the bowling averages.

Yet to play a Test, he is nailed on to tour South Africa this winter. England's coaches must do everything to assist this exciting prospect and there can be no excuses for not giving him a chance. It does appear that the ECB has been handling his development carefully but then I thought that about Monty Panesar, who after a promising start just never kicked on and these days doesn't even impress in the County game.

Spinners should demonstrate a love for their art - it should consume them. Bradman used to sleep with 2lbs 4ozs of willow - perhaps our emerging spinners should do likewise with a piece of 5 1/2 oz leather? In addition to hard work, it is crucial they adopt dedication, patience, confidence and aggression in the correct measures. But even if they do, they will not succeed without help from the top table and that's where the biggest problem of all currently lies.