Spin will be the key to the World Cup

The 10th World Cup, when it finishes its initial month of meandering and approaches a climax, will do so in late March — the end of the cricket season in the Asian subcontinent, when the days are becoming intolerably hot. By then the pitches will be wearing and tearing in the midday sun, and spin will be the best way to counter big-hitting batsmen for whom limited-overs cricket is designed.

Versatility will therefore be the key ingredient. If you bowl first you will need loads of spinners to take advantage of the dry pitches that will prevail at the end of the season; if you bowl second you will need loads of seamers to take advantage of damp pitches, or at least medium-pacers who control a dewy ball, not fast and furious siege-engines like Shaun Tait who could spray it anywhere.

One man simply could not be stirred sufficiently by the lure of a global competition to put in even a smidgen of hard work. Samit Patel has let England down badly. Had Patel shown decent signs of improvement when tested recently, he would have been in England’s squad. England desperately wanted Patel in Asia. Doubtless they will be playing two spinners, so they have to take three such practitioners (sickness has been known to be a problem in that part of the world). James Tredwell is the third, a capable cricketer indeed, but even his closest family members might struggle to mount a convincing case that he is a better one-day spinning all-rounder at No 7 than Patel. The admirable Michael Yardy will fill that spot, but, for all his frugality in Twenty20 cricket, doubts remain over his non-turning, slow left-armers surviving the full 10-over quota on subcontinental pitches.