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Leg spin is back in the headlines for a multitude of reasons. First, there’s the fact Australia’s batsmen were flummoxed by Pakistan’s rookie wrist spinner Yasir Shah in the two Tests in the UAE.
And during that series, wayward part-time leggie Steve Smith often appeared more likely to strike than Australia’s incumbent finger spinner Nathan Lyon.
Adding to the mix was the heartening display of rip and deception offered up by Queensland leg spinner Cameron Boyce in the T20s against South Africa.
This confluence of events has led many Australian fans to call for wrist spin to once again become a major feature of Australia’s bowling artillery in all formats.
Between 1991 and 2008, leg spin was a potent weapon for Australia, with champions Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill combining for 1215 international wickets.
Chinaman bowler Brad Hogg was also a key contributor during this period, snaring 156 ODI wickets at 27 and playing a significant role in successive World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007.
Over the past six years, however, it is finger spin which has been the preferred option more often than not in all formats for Australia.
There have been brief appearances by the likes of Boyce, WA chinaman bowler Beau Casson, Victorians James Muirhead, Fawad Ahmed and Bryce McGain – and even a flirtation with the idea of Steve Smith playing as a frontline spinner.
But the bulk of matches across all formats have been soaked up by finger spinners including Lyon, Queensland’s Nathan Hauritz, New South Welshman Steve O’Keefe, Tasmanian tweakers Xavier Doherty and Jason Krezja and WA pair Ashton Agar and Michael Beer.
Part of the reason for this dominance of finger spin was that there were few slow bowlers of any variety enjoying success at state level and so they represented a safer option than blooding a raw wrist spinner.
Also relevant was the fact that Sheffield Shield pitches were so lively and favoured towards pacemen that spin bowlers were marginalised.
Shield decks last summer and again this season have fostered far more even contests between bat and ball and have once again made slow bowlers valuable.
Now, some credible leg spin options are emerging for Australia, placing Lyon under significant pressure to retain his spots in the Test and ODI line-ups.
Adam Zampa was the leading spin bowler in the recent One-Day Cup, grabbing 10 wickets at 26 from seven matches for South Australia. The 22-year-old has also prospered in the Shield, with eight wickets at 34 from the first two rounds this summer.
Boyce took 26 wickets last Shield season, admittedly at the inflated average of 45, while Ahmed nabbed 21 wickets at 35 from his seven Shield games.
The 25-year-old Queenslander has hype behind him after his encouraging efforts in the recent T20s against South Africa.
He operated with nice control and tantalising loop in those matches. His first-class record speaks of a spinner who remains raw but has significant potential.
Is he ready to be blooded in Test cricket against India, which boasts some of the world’s best players of spin? No, I don’t think he is.
If Australia decide they want a wrist spinner in their Test XI, it is Ahmed who has the Shield performances which justify selection.
Since joining the Bushrangers two summers ago after fleeing Pakistan, he has earned 47 wickets at 31 to be the second most effective spinner in the competition after O’Keefe.
Ahmed does not flight or turn the ball as much as Boyce, however he has far better control and boasts a cleverly-disguised wrong ‘un.
It was his cousin, Yasir Shah, who helped destroy Australia 2-0 in the Tests in the UAE as he grabbed 12 wickets at 17.
Ahmed might not quite be in the same class as his relative but, for now, he is the best first-class wrist spinner in the country.
Of course, all this talk of leg spinners returning to the baggy green could be premature.
Lyon has had consecutive poor series against South Africa and Pakistan, but he is a proven commodity on hard Australian decks, in particular at the Gabba, the venue for the first Test where he has 15 wickets at 23 from three Tests.
Should Lyon falter against India though, the calls for a leg spinner to replace him will only get louder.