THE FUTURE OF FINGER SPIN..

Thought I'd share my piece for the Sunday Times I wrote about finger spin for those who haven't seen

Shoaib Bashir has found wicket-taking understandably tough against India

It was here at Edgbaston in 2001 that Australia’s Adam Gilchrist first served notice of the devastating impact a wicketkeeper-batsman could have on a Test match. Coming in at no 7 in the albeit pleasant situation of 336-5 he flogged the tiring England attack for an undefeated 152 to enable Australia to eventually post 576 and win by an innings. In the next Test on a tricky Lord’s pitch he produced a belligerent 90 to swell Australia’s first innings to 401 and an eight-wicket victory. In the 3^rd test at Nottingham his resourceful 54 converted a parlous 94-5 to 190 all out and two days later Australia had wrapped up the Ashes 3-0 and Shane Warne was doing his famous jig on the Trent Bridge balcony.

Gilchrist was the Samurai sword who sliced the wearying enemy to ribbons, and from then on every team sought a keeper who could come in at number seven and inflict similar damage. You could not afford a specialist keeper who did not contribute significantly with the bat. Infact Alec Stewart – England’s longest serving keeper-batsman – always maintained that you could make a Test-class batter into a decent keeper, but not vice-versa. Jamie Smith and Rishabh Pant are the brilliant extension of that.

To achieve Ben Stokes’ stated aim to be the no1 Test team in the world, England need to think this way about spin bowlers, especially finger-spinners. Particularly if they are intent on playing on these batting freeways and fielding first (therefore batting last) spinners who do not have a second string are an expensive luxury. For all his natural assets – long fingers, high release point and an apparently sound temperament – Shoiab Bashir offers little with the ball until a pitch is properly spinning, and nothing at all with the bat (his first-class batting average is 8.33.) Not only is he a resident no11, but also he has England’s second worst differential between bowling and batting averages (see table.)

England have shown great faith in Bashir since his Test debut in early 2024 (after just ten first class games). He was one of the leading Test wicket takers in the world last year – with 49 in 15 matches – though at the relatively expensive cost of 40 per victim. He has shown a willingness to enhance his repertoire with different trajectories, varying paces and the odd carrom ball, and he has improved his consistency without really giving Stokes control against good players. He concedes almost four an over on average.

This is not necessarily Bashir’s fault. Batsmen’s ability against spin has improved exponentially in the last decade. Their ambidexterity and range of stroke, including an extraordinary falling ramp shot – flipping a good length ball on off-stump almost over the keeper’s head - as exhibited by the likes of Pant, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook in this series – makes them almost impossible to contain. The more it spins, the more potential angles it offers the batsmen. You need about 13 fielders. Even Nathan Lyon has found the going tougher recently, taking only 9 wickets at 36 in the five home Tests against India last winter.

Without bowling badly and retaining admirable enterprise, Bashir conceded the 3rd most runs by an England bowler in a Test match (286) at Edgbaston. He was five shy of an invidious record. With lightening detection of length, Pant took his first over yesterday for 10 and afterwards they milked him for his second hundred of the match. Bashir was still smiling at the end and finally dismissed Shubman Gill for 169, but unlike a Ravindra Jadeja or a Ravichandran Ashwin or even a Graeme Swann, he won’t be able to give a decent chunk of that back with the bat. Because of the rapid direction in which the game is going, perhaps England have backed the wrong horse.

What are the alternatives? Given that England have clearly moved on from Jack Leach, sage observers say that the best English spinners in county cricket are Hampshire’s Liam Dawson and Sussex’s Jack Carson. Dawson has 103 wickets in the last two seasons average 23, although 21 at 40 on this summer’s pancakes. He is more than handy with the willow too, of course (he already has a test fifty against India in Chennai) but his low trajectory with the ball will be seen as a handicap in Tests.

Carson, Irish born but English qualified, took 50 first class wickets average 22 in division 2 last season and toured Sri Lanka with England Lions in 2023, but was hampered by back spasms. He recently bowled Hampshire out taking 5-26 and his coach, former England assistant Paul Farbrace, rates him very highly. “He has great control, spins it, is ultra competitive and a proper game player,” he says. Crucially he also notched his maiden first class hundred this year and has 11 fifties to go with it. And he pouches them at slip too.

Alternatively, what has happened to Tom Hartley (who took 7 wickets on his Test debut and is useful with the bat?) Or, here’s a leftfield suggestion - could Jacob Bethell do as good a job as Bashir with the ball as well as of course bat in the top six? I believe he could be made into a decent left arm spinner. He has the basics. Or what about Glamorgan’s Ben Kellaway, who can bowl both right arm off spin AND left arm spin (averaging 29 with the ball) and has two first class hundreds? (Admittedly he is as inexperienced as Bashir at this stage.)

Essentially the days of the specialist finger spinner who is a batting rabbit – think Phil Tufnell, Monty Panesar and before them Nick Cook or Pat Pocock – are almost done. It’s a shame as their tales of going for a gallon with the ball or being frightened out of their wits at the crease add rich chapters to cricket’s great narratives. But in these bat-driven times, England can’t accommodate many passengers.

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