For those of us who grew up with a quartet of West Indies fast bowlers terrorising batting line-ups, it’s logical to think the Caribbean is a pace bowler’s paradise. While that may be true off the field, on the ground it is no longer the case.
The two Tests will be played at Windsor Park in Dominica and Sabina Park in Jamaica.
Australia played at Windsor Park on their last West Indies tour, one of only three Tests ever played at the venue. In that small history, 59 per cent of wickets have gone to spinners.
Bowling pace has been hard work, with bowlers striking on average every 92 balls compared to 56 for spinners.
Australia’s last outing in Dominica saw Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Starc struggle, while Nathan Lyon and Michael Clarke cashed in.
In the only first-class game played at the venue this season, 25 of 30 wickets fell to spin.
Sabina Park has a rich history, including Steve Waugh’s famous 200 and the resultant and equally famous Greg Ritchie pitch invasion. While the great pace bowlers Courtney Walsh and Wes Hall dominate the wicket-taking records, Sabina Park has only seen Test match action three times since 2011. In this period, just under half of the wickets (44 per cent) have been captured by spinners. Even Kiwi spearheads Trent Boult and Tim Southee needed the help of three spin options to get 20 wickets for victory last year.
In recent first-class matches, twice this season all 10 wickets in an innings were captured by spin.
Given the recent fragility of Australian quicks, toiling away on unresponsive wickets is not what is required prior to an Ashes series. On the 2012 tour, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson returned home mid-tour and Ryan Harris failed to play back-to-back Tests.
While Australia likes to play to its strength and back its pace attack, the conditions dictate that spin will be a significant factor. Nathan Lyon is the incumbent Australian spinner and has done nothing to suggest that should change. He has also toured the Caribbean before and took wickets, although he has been overlooked before on overseas tours without doing much wrong.
However, there is clearly a role for a second spinner. The last West Indies tour saw Michael Beer take that spot in the Dominica Test. Now Fawad Ahmed is the other spinner on tour and turns the ball the opposite way to Lyon, making for what could be a complementary partnership. The series in the West Indies gives Lyon and Ahmed the added incentive of cementing a place in the first Test for the forthcoming Ashes.
Steve Smith and Michael Clarke may play handy roles with the ball at times but they shouldn’t be used as substitute for another front-line spinner.
If Australia continue with the seam options of either Mitchell Marsh or Shane Watson, this allows the real option of playing two spinners without taking too much of a risk. Whether Australia take that option is the most intriguing question in the selection of the first Test of the Caribbean tour.
As for the West Indies, they have the spinners Devendra Bishoo and Veerasammy Permaul in their squad. Both had good first-class seasons and received their latest chance at Test cricket in the recent series against England. However, they are still inexperienced with only 12 and five Tests respectively.
That should generate a great opportunity for the Australian batting line-up. But on responsive pitches, as was seen in the UAE last year, spin can often be Australia’s undoing.
Whatever the final makeup of both bowling attacks, expect plenty of overs from the spinners over the two-Test series.
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