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Are we witnessing the death of leg-spin bowling?

16th September, 2014
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(AAP Photo/Jenny Evans)
Roar Guru
16th September, 2014
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3734 Reads

Ever since Shane Warne revolutionised the art of leg-spin bowling, tens of thousands of budding young cricketers have attempted to pick up the fragile bowling style in an attempt to replicate their hero.

And tens of thousands will drop the bowling style in favour of non-spinning off breaks, or slow swinging mediums, or wicket-keeping opportunities for one simple reason.

It is so bloody hard.

Leg spin is a thing of beauty within cricketing circles. It is an art form, and such a rare one that only the very best can master it.

Imagine trying to replicate the paintings of Picasso, or the musical talent of the Beatles. It is almost impossible, and it is the exact same with Shane Warne.

Since Warne’s retirement, there has only been one leg spinner to even come close to the genius of the master himself, and that is Stuart MacGill, and as good as he was, he still had 500 fewer wickets than Warne, and an average of 29.09.

Bowling leg spin takes a ridiculous amount of talent, and enormous time and effort to even become consistent.

How many leg spinners do you see down at your local cricket club? Very few, and that is being generous.

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Yes, you may get some that can put a ball on a good length, and bowl with decent flight and speed, but those are not leg spin bowlers, they are simply medium pacers with flight variation.

And that is what world cricket has started to produce.

From the rise of T20 cricket, most leg spinners you see are bowlers who vary their flight and speed, but just cannot get the ball to spin.

Look no further than Imran Tahir. A quality one-day cricketer, who in the recent series against Zimbabwe and Australia produced some fine cricket, but as much as he may star in the short format of the game, he will never achieve massive success at Test level.

It is perfectly fine to bowl like the South African does in ODIs and T20s, but transitioning that to the Test arena is another story. To be successful at a Test level as any spinner, let alone a ‘leggie’, you must spin the ball.

Everything else comes secondary to that. Spin the ball. It is the most important thing.

But how can those who do give the ball a rip – like Fawad Ahmed, James Muirhead, Adam Zampa and Cameron Boyce – actually thrive at Test level when they are liable to get smashed?

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It all comes back to Shane Warne. You will never find another leg spinner like him. Never. Not in a million years, but we will always keep looking.

And that is one reason why Australian cricket has not prospered in the spin department for various years. Cricket has developed so far since the earliest days of the sport, but it must go back to the pre-Warne period.

The 1930s through 90s was a time when leg spinners would collect wickets, but would also get hit. They were not going to bowl 20 overs and takes figures of 1/40, but they would take 4/80 or so.

Would a captain not rather this from his spinner instead of economical statistics?

Leg spin is a beautiful, majestic thing for a cricket tragic. But it is slowly dying out, being replaced by its brother, off-spin, and the version of quick and non-spinning leg breaks.

We must harbour the future of leg spin bowling, and nurture and develop the young batch of spinners who are coming through the ranks of Australian cricket. If we don’t, the demon of the quick and flighted leg break that doesn’t actually spin will take over, and the art of leg spin itself may be lost.

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