Shane Warne, Image: Jenny Evans, AAP
As a member of the spinners fraternity, I must say it has come as no surprise to see Australia’s newfound approach to the art of spin bowling.
The development in spin bowling in Australia going so wrong and the treatment of spin bowlers across the board is no different to the experiences shown in Nathan Hauritz, Jason Krezja and Beau Casson when all have performed quite well given their experience in the baggy green.
I have experienced this lack of development first hand.
As a youngster I spent countless hours in the backyard imitating my cricketing hero, Shane Warne. I would buy all the Shane Warne spinners kits (even though they where useless as I am left-arm legspinner and they are designed for right handers) and adapted my action from simply mimicking that of the great man’s.
I would practise in training sessions to perfect the art and hope to unleash it against the crop of youngsters we were to meet each weekend.
But, not so.
I never embraced the apparent potential I had as a 12 year old spinner because I was never given the chance. Spin bowlers in my experience in junior cricket where always the last to bowl, everyone would be thrown the ball before it came the turn of the tweakers.
That’s if the job hadn’t already been done before.
Then, even when you where thrown the ball, if, like some spinners do, you went for a few runs, you were straight off and out of the attack.
A few weeks of this and I was back in my familiar position as first change, shinny kookaburra in the hand and Shane Warne spinners kit confined to the cupboard once more.
Through the years I would again dabble in spin and prove quite handy, but again had to wait with the other spinners at the end of the bowling queue.
Fast forward to 2008 and the first full season where I dedicated myself to the art of spin and have a captain that showed faith in my ability and would throw me the ball sometimes still with its shine.
I managed to play representative cricket for Bankstown and end up with the Italian Cricket Team inquiring into my availability, which is another story altogether.
In the five match representative series, as the only spinner, I only bowled twice, taking 3/21 and 2/17 in a total of 22 overs. One match where I wasn’t thrown the ball I was left licking my lips at a minefield of a pitch with patches missing from the turf – a spinners’ paradise.
Yet, no spinner was ever introduced. And this is after topping the bowling figures the previous game.
Dont take this article as venting or sour grapes. It merely is describing the experiences I have had as a spinner in the game. I am not going to be the next Shane Warne and never have.
It just shows the lack of development that the art of spin bowling is given.
Bowling spins needs a sense of maturity. It is hard for a youngster to really grasp the mentality needed. You need to be firm and stick to a plan knowing you are going to go for runs. And to keep throwing the ball up even after you have disappeared over the fence a couple of times.
Shane Warne also talks about this approach in his teachings of the art, and it is certainly something it took me a while to grasp and see the merit in.
A bright young spinning prospect currently playing for NSW is Steve Smith. Smith is someone I played my school cricket alongside and he clearly had some talent as a spinner.
When I asked him why he didn’t commit to spin, his argument was similar to mine: he never got a bowl.
Smith’s potential as a spinner has now been noted by the coaches at Cricket NSW and he in fact has taken numerous five wicket hauls in the Sydney Grade competition along with some great hauls in Sheffield Shield.
Cricket Australia needs to show value in spin so the next generation has something to aspire to.
Onside
Guest
Part of the balance of the game is for batsmen to build up a bit of a cushion for spinners. Sometimes statistics amplfy runs against a spinner, ignoring the couple of vital wickets taken(albeit a bit costly) that perhaps the quicks were unable to achieve.In Test cricket where a team needs 20 wickets it is worth having a spinner who can take a few wickets so long as the batsmen do their part and create a bit of wiggle room. Fast bowlers are rarely punished on an off day to the degree a spinner is.Firstly the top order batsman are more technically correct and tend to let a bad ball go,and secondly the ball is moving at a pace too difficult to hit anyway.Take Mitchell Johnson for example ,a few of his overs were disgracefull at any level let alone by Test standards.Now if a spin bowler put in a poor performance comparable with Johnson,many balls would be boundaries.And so it goes. .
Bigad
Guest
The saddest thing for me is that its like the Warne era never happened. I was a young spinner in the 80's (when all and sundry agreed that spin bowling was officially dead) and this is exactly the same poor captaincy and genral atttitude to spin bowling that I had to deal with week in, week out. I had hoped that that would never happen again post-Warne & MacGill, but no so.
Hazey the Bear
Roar Rookie
I agree Adam, and I think Krejza's comments in the article Brett found are encouraging... I find it amazing that he was dropped for going expensively (a spinner...going for runs at Perth....What?!? Scandalous!!!), but I remember the delivery that got Amla like it was yesterday...Beautifully pitched, nice turn, knocking over the top of the stumps - it was a ripper! I reckon if he's developed a more defensive aspect to his game, which he claims to have done, then there's no reason he can't get himself back in the squad and make a regular appearance...
Adam Santarossa
Guest
I never would have dropped Jason Krezja , sure he went for some runs , but like a step up to any level it takes time to gain confidence and learn how to bowl at that level . Krezja has been scoring hundreds as well Tassie and I think Australia A.....I hope he gets another chance.
Onside
Guest
By the time CA find one ,they will bemoaning the paucity of quicks .And so it goes.
Brett McKay
Guest
Adam, fear not, CA is going to fix it!! It's only taken the retirements of Warne and MacGill, and twelve months of revolving doors, but suddenly, CA are putting spin back at the top of the development agenda... http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/cricket/ca-to-put-spin-on-national-agenda/2009/08/25/1251001901529.html
Brett McKay
Guest
Adam, your story seems typical of what I've witnessed in the ten or fifteen years in grade cricket. Lower grade captain brings on promising young spinner no earlier than third or fourth change, having taken four or five wickets for 100, demands he "give it a rip" from ball one, and brings in a somewhat attacking field in a show of support. Batsman has heard of this kid's talents, and pats the first three balls back partly out of respect, partly to read his variations. After an aborted attacking shot fourth ball, batsman decides there's not too much to worry about. Captain notices batsman has him picked, and again tells young tweaker to "come on mate, show him what you've got", while at the same time telling short cover to give himself a bit extra room. Batsman comes down the track to ball five, and deposits the ball one bounce into the long-on boundary. Captain resists the need to plug the hole, but now tells short leg to get rid of the helmet and come back to a slightly more regulation square-leg/mid-wicket location. Young tweaker tells himself to not worry about ball five, lets get him with ball six. Ball six gets pulled down too short by the panicked young bowler, batsman rocks back and pulls to the square leg boundary. Former short leg fielder thanks captain for the move. Young tweaker lines up for a second over, but his now somewhat attacking field includes long-on, deep mid-wicket, deep backward square, and point has gone back another ten or fifteen metres. Gully and First Slip are discussing between themselves whether they both need to be where they are...