Why English spinners are an endangered species
A day after Derek Underwood took over as MCC president and vowed to use his position to promote spin in England, Mike Atherton writes in Times that the influence of home-grown slow bowlers has been waning by the season
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
A day after Derek Underwood took over as MCC president and vowed to use his position to promote spin in England, Mike Atherton writes in Times that the influence of home-grown slow bowlers has been waning by the season. Atherton traces the decline of spin bowling in England and feels there has been no recovery. Yet, he says, there are grounds for hope.
A week spent watching the denouement of the LV County Championship at Trent Bridge last week highlighted the issue. There were four spinners on view, bowling on a pitch that, while slow, was bare and dry. There were two left-armers (Samit Patel and Liam Dawson), an off spinner (Graeme Swann) and a leg spinner (Imran Tahir): three home-produced players and one from overseas; three orthodox spinners and one with more “mystery”. Between them, the home-grown spinners took four wickets and Tahir took eight.
Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo