Will England ever pick 2 frontline spinners?

Question

There's plenty of talk currently about Rashid playing Test matches (I think he's too inexperienced at the moment but a good future prospect). Batty and Swann are also mentioned and there's a promising talent at Durham, Scotty Borthwick. Spooky how similar his action is to Shane Warne. Same run up, took 3 wickets on debut in the Twenty20 and is only 18!

I dream of the day, of watching England with a wrist spinner and a finger spinner tearing apart the opposition and perhaps I won't have to dream for too long.

Will we soon see the day, when the ECB have the guts to give Monty a spinning partner? Someone who is first and foremost a spinner who enters the team whether their batting is good enough or not.

Do you think any of the players mentioned (or any others) are actually good enough to play in Tests? Not necessarily right now, but some time in the near future.

All comments are welcome :)

Answer 1

one is enough....because england has good pace attack

Answer 2

at home no

Answer 3

they should but they won't

Answer 4

I guess not. They've never really relied on spin rather they always have a good number of pacers & sometimes even 5, I've noticed that in the past. I think they'll go on with Monty & before it was Asley Giles as their only spinner. But from the names you mentioned I think Gareth Batty have played international cricket in the past & he's quite good and experienced so think he wouldn't be a bad option if they really are to play 2 spinners.

Answer 5

England only pick two spinners when they go overseas. They don't need two when they play in England.

And we have a major problem when they do want to pick two spinners, as there is no one, Gary Keedy excepted, who is actually good enough.

Keedy won't be picked as his batting is not very good (although he managed a career best 64 against Sussex the other day).

The other candidates are: Graeme Swann (reasonably good in ODI cricket, so could be worth a look in Tests); Gareth Batty (didn't exactly cover himself in glory when he did get a chance, but he may come back into the reckoning at some point); Adil Rashid (could be the wrist spin option England have been after, but lacks experience, and has the shadow of Chris Schofield's too early elevation hanging over him); Chris Schofield (picked before he was ready, is a good bat, and the hardships he has suffered have made him a tougher cricketer, but doubts remain over his quality in the longer form of the game); and er, that's probably about it.

So you may have to dream a little longer, if you want to see two English spinners bowling in tandem in England.

But I am sure that if we had two match winners, we would pick them, irrespective of conditions.

Perhaps Ian Bell should learn to bowl wrist-spin. Another string to his bow, and when his batting form slumps, his ability to bowl spin could be a significant advantage to him if they are considering dropping anyone.

Answer 6

Like i said to you earlier Kinney, England will never play 2 spinners in there side, unless they have 2 Shane Warne's or unless they are playing in the sub-continent (and even then they are reluctant e.g Lanka tour).

Any team playing 2 spinners in England is unlikely, just take NZ for example, Jeetan Patel is probably there 2nd or 3rd best bowler, BUT he didnt get a chance to play in England because nearly all pitches in England favour seam bowling (Old Trafford and maybe The Oval being the exceptions).

At the moment in my opinion Adil Rashid is the best spin bowler in England (Yes better than Monty) he gets geniune turn and bounce and he can bowl a mean googly, Rashid should be playing test cricket either now or at least in the near future. England's next away tour ironically is in India (the place where we are most likely to play 2 spinners) now Adil Rashid should be picked to play on that tour, and he should play as the frontline spinner in the side, with Monty at the other end! If Flintoff regains his batting form then we can afford to play 3 seamers and 2 spinners in the sub-continent! Which would give us a real chance of winning the tour.

The main reason why we dont play 2 spinners, (besides the conditions) is the fact that our seam bowling at the moment is so strong, when Flintoff comes back for the South Africa tour England will have a choice of about 5 or 6 seam bowlers who are all good enough to play for England, now for England to play 2 spinners, the selectors would have to drop 3 excellent seam bowlers.

So to answer your question in a simple way, NO! England wont be playing 2 frontline spinners in the near future, unless English pitches suddently become dusty and spin-friendly, OR unless of a major injury crisis.

Get Rashid in the side!!

Oh Swann is an excellent county bowler, and a decent ODI bowler but he just wouldnt be able to cut it at test level IMO! Batty has had his chances and blew them! I havent seen Borthwick but he looks like a decent talent! but obviously he's too young!

Answer 7

wow ! that'll be like going back to the golden years ,they need the balls to go for it ,,,and of course if the players are good enough

.

Answer 8

Like evry1 I would also say that there isnt any use of playing 2 spinners in English conditions with great pack of fast bowlers. I really like that lad 'Borthwick', he really puts his everything into the game and fields well too. I havent seen much of Rashid but he still needs sum time to play for England, we cant rush anyone in. England may send 2 spinners in India and that could be Monty & Rashid.

Answer 9

While Englkand may be tempted to use 2 front line spinners on the pitches helping spinners on all other occasions they will play only 1 spinner.