Saqlain success shows England's spin deficiency (12 Aug 1998)

19 August 1998

Saqlain success shows England's spin deficiency

By Charles Randall

DAVID GRAVENEY has described the barren state of spin-bowling on England's professional circuit as of "near-crisis proportions", and it is richly ironic that this year's championship title will probably be won for Surrey by Saqlain Mushtaq.

Of the eight games the Pakistan off-spinner has played, seven have ended in a Surrey victory, and the leaders start their game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge today with a 21-point advantage over Lancashire, their nearest challengers.

Yet the contrast between Saqlain's success and the best of England's spinners is startling. He has captured 59 championship wickets while Robert Croft, his England equivalent, has managed only 17 for Glamorgan in the same number of games.

Ashley Giles, with 26 wickets for Warwickshire, was unique in the Test series as the bowler taking the only South African wicket to fall to spin. Nobody would expect the days of Laker and Lock or of Titmus and Allen to return, but that was ridiculous.

Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said yesterday: "This is an extreme worry, and it will take some thought to tackle it. The problem is a combination of wickets - these concrete-like pitches that don't break up - and the weather.

"When was the last time England took only one wicket with spin in a five-Test series? It has probably never happened before. It is very difficult for young spinners to establish themselves in the professional game with the type of wickets we play on."

It looks as though the pendulum has swung again. The England authorities eradicated grassy pitches in 1990 to curb the domination of medium-pace seam-bowlers, but they have since allowed their measures to be re-interpreted.

Peter Such, Essex's England off-spinner, has taken a relatively respectable haul of 29 championship wickets, but he said: "It has been the hardest season I've had, without doubt.

Such, 34, cited hard, grassy pitches prevalent on the circuit, designed more for results than to last four days - what he described as "old-fashioned pitch-rigging".

He said: "The ball won't bite on the surface, and as the game goes on, the pitch might crack and with that comes uneven bounce, which is more use to the quicker bowlers.

"You're seeing a general switch-round to the batter who can bowl a bit, left-arm or off-spin, and everyone has gone leg-spin crazy, which doesn't help. If things continue to develop along these lines, the specialist finger-spinner will become almost obsolete."

The England Cricket Board have organised intensive winter coaching for the country's most promising wrist-spinners at the request of David Lloyd, England's coach. An official said wryly: "He wanted us to major on why we can't find a leg-spinner, but the next development will probably be why we can't find a finger-spinner."

The decline of the finger men is a world problem. It is easy to forget that Saqlain cannot find a regular place in Pakistan's side, kept out by a leg-spinner, Mushtaq Ahmed.

Durham announced yesterday that they had taken "appropriate disciplinary action" following the two-fingered gesture by their vice-captain, John Morris, after reaching his century against Glamorgan on Monday.

Morris explained that the gesture was directed at a friend who bet him £20 he would not make a hundred, but Durham received an official complaint from a member.

Mark Butcher will lead Surrey into today's county championship clash with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, taking over the captaincy in the absence of Adam Hollioake and Alec Stewart, both of whom are on duty with England.

Ally Brown is also on international duty, while Graham Thorpe is still out with a long-term back injury.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)