Mystery of the missing wrist-spinners

An arrogant cricketing official once dismissed a young Kapil Dev, “There are no fast bowlers in India”. One wonders whether aspiring wrist-spinners in England, New Zealand and South Africa were rebuffed in similar ways. This article is a humble attempt to identify the factors that conspired against the emergence of any worthwhile wrist spinner from these countries.

Nature, of course, is the first stumbling block. The wickets in England and New Zealand are soft and green and the outfields moist, breaking the heart of any wrist spinner. Overcast skies encouraged captains to prefer gentle wobblers over the tweaker. In South Africa, wickets are harder, but loaded with juice that the quicks can exploit. Currie Cup, the premier domestic competition was played for long with two balls, thereby keeping the ball newer for longer periods. The quicks therefore remain in the hunt throughout.

The three teams believe in keeping things tight, drying up easy runs and throttling the opposition, especially when spinners are bowling. Spinners are expected to play second fiddle and perform effective hold-ups while the quicks rest, refresh and recharge. Finger spinners fit the bill admirably. Indeed, Lohmann, Verity, Lock, Laker, Underwood, Giles, Panesar (Eng), Tayfield, Symcox, Boje (SA), Dipak Patel, Bracewell, Vettori (NZ) all made their way into the playing eleven as personifications of accuracy, before carving their own niche. The aggressive, predatory worldview of the wrist-spinner would probably be discarded in such a milieu.

Cricket in these countries is seen more as a craft and a science. A finger spinner who wears down the batsman by constantly hammering at his weakness is a natural choice. The greater reliability and predictability of the finger spinner allied with his greater destructive potential on a wearing wicket offers a package that is customised and therefore immediately embraced.

Wrist-spinners ride the chariots of rebellion. Their mental aggression belies their small frames and gentle image of a spinner. Their desire to make things happen, at times makes them profligate, an anathema to risk-averse captains. They are their own men and a coach’s nightmare, unless the coach is a patient and wise soul.

The game’s biggest oddities are wrist-spinners, Chandra (with a deformed hand), Paul Adams (frog-in-a-blender action), Ajantha Mendis (carrom-ball grip) to name a few. Formal coaching structures in conservative establishments prevalent in these countries are likely to frown upon such mavericks. Wristwork is often associated with oriental magic, a view accentuated by the plethora of wrist spinners emerging from the subcontinent as well as the artful hockey players.

Wrist-spinners are generally smaller in build, sloppier in the outfield and more likely to be genuine rabbits with the bat. There are notable exceptions like Kumble and Warne, but MacGill, Chandra, Hirwani, Qadir, Mendis, Bob Holland, Danish Kaneria do reinforce the stereotype. Thus the overall utility of a wrist-spinner when benchmarked against conventional yardsticks would be lower.

Cricket, like any other discipline, thrives on role models. The home-grown models like Denis Compton, Ken Barrington and Mike Atherton were peerless batsmen and used wrist spin as a pleasurable past time. Even Johnny Wardle, the most seasoned English purveyor of this art, bowled finger spin at home. The leading overseas practitioners were two Pakistani allrounders, Mushtaq Mohammad and Intikhab Alam apart from the peerless Garry Sobers. Thus a role model for a specialist wrist spinner did not exist in England.

Parallels can be drawn with the Indian experience where, till the emergence of Javagal Srinath, India’s new-ball bowlers were allrounders of varying genuineness. New Zealand and South Africa are profoundly impacted by the old art. Anil Kumble, Mushtaq Ahmed and Shane Warne have played county cricket in recent times and may be a revolution is taking place silently.

Many facets of wrist spin are counter-intuitive and are, unsurprisingly, shunned by orthodoxy. Wrist spin requires a mix of art and adventure sport. Zimbabwe could unearth a Paul Strang, grassroots cricket in India and Kapil Dev could help the country shed its aversion to pace. A venture capitalist is required in England, South Africa and New Zealand.