In the second Test against the West Indies, England will face a leg spinner in a Test match for the first time since Steve Smith’s part-time offerings in the 2013-14 Ashes.
Fawad Ahmed will be hoping England struggle against Devendra Bishoo, as it would boost his chances of playing in the upcoming Ashes.
One way or another, the encounter bears scrutiny. It allows Australia the opportunity to see how the likes of Gary Ballance manage against this mode of attack prior to the Ashes.
While it is unlikely that English curators will prepare pitches of the 2013 Graeme Swann vintage, part-time leg spin has its uses on flat pitches. More specifically, it has its uses on flat pitches that don’t discriminate annoying bowlers on their mode of delivery.
If such pitches come to pass, Michael Clarke may find Smith and David Warner pestering him like hyperactive kids for a bowl. Smith has troubled Ian Bell in the past, while Warner isn’t the worst leg-spinner when he doesn’t bowl medium pace. Importantly, he approaches bowling the same way he approaches cricket generally – with no lack of self-confidence.
Of course England’s part-time spin options of Joe Root and Ballance shouldn’t be overlooked. Root is an effective partnership breaker with an attitude not too dissimilar to that of his old friend Warner, though Alastair Cook will be annoyed if he has to rely on Root as much as he did in the 2013-14 Ashes.
In Tests, Ballance’s wrist spin is seen only a little more often than a place kick in the AFL. Surprisingly, Antigua was not one of those times. Even though he probably wouldn’t have made a sizeable difference, England bowled for more than four sessions in the fourth innings and he had scored a hundred in England’s second innings.
Clarke holds an advantage in spin bowling over Alastair Cook, both in terms of personnel and his use of those options. The Grenada and Bridgetown Tests between England and the West Indies may determine how much Clarke gets to exploit that advantage.
Quite apart from those considerations, the leg spin fraternity at Test level has become pretty small. While the proliferation of leg-spinners goes in cycles, the game of Test cricket loses part of its appeal when there aren’t as many front-line leg spinners around.
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