Spinning out of control?

While the majority of the nationals' sports pages were filled with reports of an unconvincing win for England against Samoa in the rugby World Cup, the same story applied for the cricketers. Even though they beat Bangladesh by a comfortable seven wickets in the end, all the papers whistled to a similar tune: credit to the seamers, but concern for the spinners, and Ashley Giles in particular.

In the Sunday Times, Simon Wilde pointed out that, "England have suffered some gross humiliations on foreign soil, but defeat to Bangladesh would have invited total ridicule. Even Canada have beaten Bangladesh." Well, they managed to avoid the embarrassment of losing, but the fact that they now "move on to Chittagong having in the end sustained no more than superficial grazes is largely down to their new-ball bowlers."

England's new-ball pair, Matthew Hoggard and Stephen Harmison, received all the plaudits. In the The Independent, Angus Fraser said that although "the performance was nowhere near as convincing as the seven-wicket margin suggests ... Harmison's match figures of 9 for 79 in 46.5 overs rightly won him the man-of-the-match award." And Gus added that "the steadying influence of Hoggard cannot be underestimated. On a pitch which was supposed to favour spin bowling, the pair took 16 for 182 in 96.5 overs. The remainder of England's attack took 4 for 256."

Simon Briggs, in the Daily Telegraph, agreed that Hoggy and Harmo almost single-handedly spared England's blushes: "If Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard had not bowled with such stamina and perseverance in this Test, these tourists would now be firmly installed in the sporting Chamber of Horrors, nestling somewhere between Tyson-Douglas and Devon Loch's last furlong."

But that's where the praise ends. "Tourists are spinning out of control" roared the headline on David Gower's column in the Sunday Times. "With Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty talked of in not particularly flattering terms by the commentators out in Bangladesh, already there is talk that one of them might not play at Chittagong." And he pointed out that although "It's easy to malign English spin bowling, probably too easy," Gower added that England have not had "a top international spinner in the fullest sense of the term" since Derek Underwood. And then there's the lack of legspinners. "We don't have a leggie. We haven't had one since, er, well, you tell me!"

And the ineffectiveness of the spinners did not go unmissed elsewhere. As Fraser wrote, "A first-rate display from England's opening bowlers was undermined by the worrying lack of penetration shown by Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty on a surface which offered the Bangladesh spinners a lot of assistance." Indeed, Richard Hobson in The Times said: "England head south to Chittagong today with the embarrassment of defeat averted, but with a principal decision over selection waiting to be addressed. The second and final Test begins on Wednesday and there is no guarantee that Ashley Giles will be involved. They need help and if that means England changing the strategy devised back home of playing two spin bowlers, so be it."

So what should England do now? Well, Briggs was convinced that "the management team must decide which of the two slow bowlers should be dropped to accommodate an extra seamer." He continued, "But the question is which spinner remains. Giles is a key figure in this squad, but should he be working on his new approach in the nets or the middle?"

Fraser insisted that the extra seamer should be his old Middlesex team-mate Richard Johnson, but Ian Ridley, in The Observer, thought otherwise. "England have to give Giles and Batty a chance to improve. If England wish to play an extra seamer in Chittagong, it would be better to replace Rikki Clarke, but the English management, chastened by their experiences during this match, will be reluctant to weaken their batting." But Ridley is largely outvoted. Hobson was another in favour of dropping Giles: "It would be doing Giles a favour to remove him from the spotlight while he takes a step backwards to go forward in the longer term."

Poor old Ashley was also the hot topic in The Independent in Bangladesh. "Giles's gamble may backfire," read the headline. Referring to the reworking of his bowling action, a sports reporter said: "Giles has opted to make those changes now by working with bowling coach Mike Watkinson despite the risks of disrupting his current action and possibly losing his place. Fletcher was happy with Giles's contribution in stages at Dhaka. But both he and Watkinson are attempting to restore his rhythm and confidence so he can return to the form which enabled him to be such a key player during England's victories in Pakistan and Sri Lanka three winters ago."

And the unnamed reporter noted that: "Attempting to change this is all well and good but it is dangerous in the middle of a Test series. Marcus Trescothick tinkered with his technique during last winter's tour of Australia with disastrous effects."

So problems for England then, but at least Ridley was still upbeat: "Under Whatmore's guidance, Bangladesh are improving. They will beat someone soon, but it is more likely to be Zimbabwe in Harare in February than England in Chittagong this week." It seems that not everyone is quite so sure.