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As the Cricket World Cup enters the finals stage, the tour of the West Indies will start to approach and a secondary spin bowler will be needed for the dustbowls of the Caribbean.
Names such as Ashton Agar, Steve O’Keefe, Cameron Boyce and Adam Zampa have been thrown into the mix as possible support for the incumbent Nathan Lyon.
However, it is impossible for the selectors to ignore the wily wrist-spin bowling of adopted Victorian Fawad Ahmed.
The leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield for the 2014-15 season, Ahmed has led to Victorian bowling stocks, combining accuracy and pressure with flight and spin.
His constant wicket-taking prowess has led to former Australian greats Stuart MacGill and Damian Martyn declaring him the best spin bowler in the country, and the best leg-spinner Australia has seen since the likes of Shane Warne.
Ever since his international debut in September 2013, the 33-year-old has only gotten better, averaging just a tick over 30 with the ball, with a strike rate of 54.1, the best record for an Australian wrist-spinner currently.
The likes of Zampa and Boyce have been touted as possible replacements for Lyon, if the finger-spinner seemed to fall under an injury cloud, but this simply would feed them to the wolves.
Neither Zampa nor Boyce are ready for international cricket, and their records at first-class cricket prove this. They are both averaging well into the 40s, and do not provide anything that would properly trouble international batsmen.
This is not to say that they will not become great bowlers in their own rights, as they both are only 22 and 25 respectively. They are still learning their craft, and unlike Ahmed, they are relatively inexperienced bowlers, and a few more years at Shield cricket cannot hurt them.
Let us be honest, if they cannot succeed at Shield cricket, how will they do any better at Test cricket? Ahmed, however, has a healthy Shield record, and has had a remarkable season with the ball.
Australia has been crying out for a leg-spin bowler such as Ahmed, and he is the perfect partner for someone such as Nathan Lyon. His ability to spin the ball in the opposite direction, as well as his wicket-taking ability, should be well used in the Caribbean, and with the attacking captaincy of Michael Clarke, Ahmed would thrive against the West Indies.
It would also provide for a perfect warm-up to the Ashes series in England, with pitches that would suit Ahmed, and the notorious history of the English against leg-spin bowling working in Ahmed’s favour.
Fawad Ahmed is clearly the best wrist-spin bowler Australia has at the moment. He is a perfect partner for Nathan Lyon, and is more than a suitable replacement for the Australian off-spinner if he falls under injury.
With experience, skill and confidence all under his belt, Ahmed is thriving in the Shield environment. Selectors have often expressed their willingness to select cricketers who are performing exceedingly well at first-class cricket.
Ahmed is the leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield, and is bowling absolutely tremendously, one major reason to why Victoria are playing the in Shield final this coming Saturday.
Obviously the best spin bowler in the country, Ahmed must be selected for the tours to the Caribbean and England in less than six months’ time.
It would be ridiculous if he wasn’t.
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