Opinion
One of the bigger differences between the two sides in the first Ashes Test was the performances of the spinners. Lyon had match figures of 8/229 while his English spin counterpart Moeen Ali and handy part-timer Joe Root took 4/262.
The inclusion of Moeen Ali after England’s main spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of the Ashes with a lower back stress fracture was a major gamble that didn’t pay off. Ali bowling 33 overs in the second innings while trying to manage a blister on his main spin finger was painful to watch.
Moreover, England picking a spinner that hasn’t played a First-Class match for almost two years who also only averaged 36.66 from his 64 Tests before the first Test showcases deep-lying issues at the level below in County cricket.
England’s obsession with the ‘bat a bit’ spinner has hurt their ability to develop quality spinners for the international level.
In two of the past three Sheffield Shield seasons, there has been a spinner in the top five of the leading wicket-takers. In the 2020/21 Shield season, spin took three of the top five leading wicket-taker positions.
The four spinners that had taken these top five wicket-taking slots were Nathan Lyon, Mitch Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann, and Jon Holland. The highest First-Class batting average for any of these spinners is Jon Holland’s 14.34.
Young gun Todd Murphy has also emerged as a prime spin candidate after averaging 25.20 in seven First-Class games which saw him given a Test berth in India where he performed admirably. He also only has a First-Class batting average of 11.92.
In contrast in Division One of England’s county cricket, no English spinner has been in the top five of the leading wicket-takers in the past three seasons. The highest place an English spinner has landed is Callum Parkinson who came tenth.
(Photo by Paul Kane – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
It is not a case of England not possessing any talented young spinners. Rather, a number of spin talents have been overlooked for prospects who are better at batting despite their lesser performances with the ball.
This can be most clearly seen in Surrey where the appointment of the side’s long-time spin mainstay in Gareth Batty was seen as a positive sign for the development of young spinners Amar Virdi and Dan Moriarty who have bowling averages of 30.71 and 28.52 respectively.
Since 2022 when Batty became Surrey’s coach, Moriarty has played two First-Class games while Virdi has not featured for Surrey. Virdi played one game for Somerset in 2022 on loan from Surrey which was his only First-Class match since 2021. Instead, Batty has preferred Will Jacks as a spin placeholder who averages 32.62 with the bat and 49.37 with the ball.
Matt Parkinson is another that has been hard done by in the County cricket circuit as of late. A promising leg-spinner with a First-Class average of 25.92, he has been criticised for his lack of pace which has many in English circles wondering if he would be able to make it at the Test level.
After making his Test debut as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach where he bowled 15.3 overs in an innings and took only 1 wicket combined with his struggles against India in T20Is saw him on the outer.
Parkinson has also found it difficult to maintain his spot at Lancashire this season having only played a solitary game for the side. Instead, Lancashire have favoured Tom Hartley who this season has had a batting average of 52.40 with two 50s and a high score of 73 not out while averaging 52.14 with the ball and taking 7 wickets from 122 overs bowled in eight innings.
Parkinson in his solitary game for Lancashire has taken 6 wickets, albeit whilst giving away 23 runs across two innings at an economy of 4.64.
The leggie was loaned out to Durham after Matthew Kuhnemann’s injury where he only played another solitary game. From being seen as a major spin prospect only a few years ago and a Test debut just last year, Parkinson has now decided to leave his county side for Kent at the end of the County season in order to revitalise his career after going out of favour.
It is also not as though spinners can’t succeed in County cricket. South African off-spinner Simon Harmer has been one of the top performers in County cricket where he has taken 350 wickets at an average of 1.52.
He was even the top wicket-taker in Division One in 2019 and 2022 where he claimed 83 scalps at 18.28 and 59 at 20.67. That same year, Pakistani left-armer Zafar Gohar was the 8th-highest wicket-taker in Division One with 47 wickets at 28.40.
Even with those two examples, both Harmer and Gohar were likely also recruited to their county sides because they could also bat with the two possessing First-Class batting averages of 24.17 and 23.04.
The English county sides have been looking to develop Harmers and Gohars of their own or just those that can provide handy lower-order runs despite being lesser spinners in seamer-friendly conditions to help them win now instead of developing young tweakers who will likely go through growing pains as young spinners do.
County sides’ short-term view of looking to win now isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but it has come at the cost of creating a healthy spin pipeline. If England wants better depth of their spin stocks, the perception of spinners in County cricket needs to change.
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