The era of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in the Test frame is slowly vanishing with the leg spinner being almost irrelevant in Test cricket for Australia.
The king of spin Shane Warne has not inspired the next generation of bowlers to take up the tweak.
Nathan Lyon is Australia’s only front-line spinner, taking just shy of 400 Test wickets. Lyon had his work cut out for him on the final days of the Sydney and Brisbane Test matches against India.
The ball wasn’t spinning out of the rough enough to the left or right handers to trouble the batsmen. Tim Paine could have done with the help of the leg spinner just to provide more variation on an ageing Day 5 wicket.
Australian cricket seems to be in short supply of a producer of the flipper or googly. Adam Zampa, Lloyd Pope and Mitchell Swepson could be next to take the mantle of the premier leg spinner in Australia.
Mitchell Swepson (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Both Zampa and Pope are cementing themselves in the shorter form of the game, playing starring roles in the Big Bash, and Zampa is playing his role in the T20 international series.
Mitchell Swepson has a swag of wickets to show his proof for being selected in the Test squad to face South Africa in March.
Swepson goes into the series as part of the extended squad as one of only two uncapped Test players.
Swepson could provide the difference on fifth-day pitches on dry, arid surfaces.
An impressive performance by Swepson could turn the heat up on Lyon after a less than impressive tour on home soil for the off spinner.
Leg spin is growing to be a more valued skill to have and use at a strong level. This year’s Big Bash tournament was again dominated by Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who can whip the ball in quicker with a variation of spin in the air and grip on flatter Australian pitches.
Adam Zampa also featured in the top ten wicket-takers with 19 wickets for the tournament.
The Warne and Anil Kumble style of leg spin – tossing the ball up – might have gone by in a previous generation, but the new technique of quick balls that grip and spin faster than the batsman has time to react to is the new way of leg spin.
Stanley Ipcus
Guest
Warne and Kumble were different in every aspect...Warne was textbook who was a master with flight and drift, but also his stock ball was a massive turning leg break. Anil was different who darted it in at pace with no much spin to get lbw and bowled victims...One is the 2nd greatest cricketer ever to grace a field and the other is not even India’s best ever spinner.....yes he has the most test wickets for India but that doesn’t make him India’s best ever tweaker.
Micko
Roar Rookie
You hear the good news?
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Edit: "......Grum was sending batsman after batsman back to the pavilion."
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
And l might add he did it in a foreign country, albeit a ‘cousin’ one, without any of the support Hadlee would’ve had. In fact he had to go to three states before finding a set-up that suited. A really determined character was Grum —– Also he shared quite a few tests with that other great pre-WW2 spinner, Tiger O’Reilly, competing for a share of the wickets spinner’s might get. Hadlee did not have anywhere the same amount of national competition and he was a fast bowler. With their fisrst bite at the cherry; so to speak.
Lachlan Mitchell
Roar Guru
Just thinking could have done more to the left hander in that Sydney test . big of rough by his front foot from that Randwick end .
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
No. Grimmet was the first man to take over 200 wickets. It took more than 60 international bowlers, over 80 years, to find a bowler who got there faster (wickets per test). Including Hadlee. ------ After being dumped by that idiot Bradman, Grum broke the SS Bowling Aggregate twice in a row. Idiot? You ask. Well Bradman's replacement was an abject failure at the same time Grum was batsman after batsman back to the pavilion. ------ He is my 2nd fave spinner of all time.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Probably place him as "best NZ born cricketer to play for Australia"? I can only think of Brendan Julian as other options? :stoked:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Close. But surely Hadlee has to be first!
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
New Zealand's greatest cricketer
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Adam, the 1st man into my World XI. Warnie the 2nd in.
Tom
Those matches were in Feb and March 2020 just after the NZ and Pak test series. He was actually averaging 64 then.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Or was the Hoff relying too much on reverse swing? :silly:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Cam Green seems to be a while away from being a truly effective bowler though.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Sure, he played for Australia. Certainly wasn't a product of here though.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Are you referring to MacGill or Gilchrist?
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I was referring to QAnon's stupid conspiracies
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Too obscure, even for me!
badmanners
Roar Rookie
I think Smith has forgotten it.
Hayley Samuel
Guest
A constructive argument, nonetheless one wouldn't expect Swepson to tweak his way to an Australian victory. Lyon has and will continue to provide wickets for Australia. There is an intrinsic fault with the production of batsman in this country at the highest levels to bat for time...whether it be the solidification of t20, the emergence of striking power through enormous bats, or simply the lack of fundamental technique, this issue will continue to arise in Australian Test batsman. One only needs to examine the records of Test batsman for Australia circa 2008-2013 to realise even those deemed not capable enough would more than hold their own with this current crop. A rotation policy for fast bowlers would certainly lighten the load and possibly provide a diamond unexpectedly.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Can we even claim Grimmett?