“They should be banished from the first-class game. It winds me up, if you are a spinner, spin the ball. I have never ever seen the point of bowling without trying to spin the ball. It has been my bugbear that I have seen some young spinners come up who have got lovely control and land it nicely but don’t try to turn it.”
It has been four years since Graeme Swann laid his heart bare. His argument, though simple, hit the nail in the debate surrounding the spinners today, especially in limited-over cricket. Bowl to contain or take wickets? Which way should the spinner turn?
In fact, it’s not a debate of recent vintage. It’s a question that has baffled captains and spinners alike for years as they have grappled with rule changes in ODI cricket.
When fielding restrictions were introduced, sides sensed an opportunity to score heavily in the first 15 overs. To counter the threat, spinners were employed to take the pace off the ball. Martin Crowe’s experiment of bowling Dipak Patel at the start worked wonders, and was a major reason behind New Zealand’s remarkable run during the 1992 World Cup.
Contrast this with the current situation, where almost every ODI team possesses a bowler who is at ease while bowling in the first 15 overs. With a new ball from each end, only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle during the non-Power Play overs, powerful bats and shorter boundaries, it comes as no surprise that the spinners have adopted a more defensive approach.
The lack of support from captains only makes the choice easier. If a spinner flights the ball and gets hit for a couple of sixes, very few skippers would continue to stick with him. Despite Swann’s disdain for “rollers”, it’s the English spinner’s breed that’s at risk today.
“Even when we were allowed five fielders outside the circle, there were times when you wished you could get one more outside. With a batsman playing shots across 360 degrees and by losing a deep fielder, you can’t restrict him on smallish playing fields and wickets that are absolute belters. The bat technology is getting better, but the balls are the same,” retired left-arm spinner Murali Kartik told The Hindu.
Unfortunately, only very few spinners have been able to marry the two approaches, the shining examples being Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan. Thanks to their superlative ability, they could be employed at any point of the innings without losing their effectiveness.
Warne knows where his heart lies. “We are going for left-arm spinners and off-spinners who bowl accurately and (maintain) good economy rate. If I want a fast bowler playing in my team, I would want him to bowl fast. If I want a swing bowler, I want him to swing the ball. If I want a spin bowler, what do I want him to do? I want him to spin the ball.”
With the emphasis on containment, the spinners seemed to have made the adjustment well. Over the past six years, despite the numerous rule changes, the bowling average for them has remained around 34, while their economy rate hovers around the 4.7 mark.
However, since October 2012 when the rule that allowed only four fielders beyond the 30-yard circle came into existence, the incidence of boundaries has gone up significantly. That is not difficult to understand as the bowlers, in general, have found little space to display their wares.
Harbhajan Singh gave a glimpse into the dilemma, when he spoke to The Hindu. “If the ball doesn’t spin, you end up conceding runs on either side of the wicket. While bowling during the middle overs, you have to contain. But the team wants you to go for wickets too.”
Despite the desire to pick up wickets, stopping the run-flow has come to acquire primacy. Spinners are increasingly finding refuge in convenient sterility.
