The Spinning Question

By Tom Bason
June 2 2006

Ever since Ashley Giles injury and Monty Panesar’s arrival on the Test scene debate has been rife about who should be England’s spinner. Of course, there are more spinners than just Giles and Panesar, Shaun Udal, Gareth Batty, Ian Blackwell and Alex Loudon are looking to break into England’s side.

There has always been called for Ashley Giles to be dropped from England’s Test side. Cruelly nick-named the ‘Wheelie-bin’ by some England fans, he has been accused to being too defensive in his game, and not spinning the ball enough. However what Giles does give the England team is a steadying influence, a bowler who Michael Vaughan knows he can rely upon to bowl consistently and accurately, and while it’s unlikely he will come away from a Test having claimed 9 or 10 wickets, Vaughan knows he will chip in with one or two wickets. In addition to this, Giles is an excellent fielder, and averages over 20 with the bat for the Test side, and has been known to chip with vital runs, most notably scoring the winning runs in the 4th Ashes Test last year, and a career best 59 to steer England to a draw, and so a series win, in the final Ashes Test.

Monty Panesar exploded onto the Test scene in March this year against India, claiming Sachin Tendulkar as his first ever Test wicket, followed by Mohammed Kaif and Rahul Dravid as his second and third respectively. There is no denying Panesar’s ability with the ball. He is an attacking spin bowler, always prepared to try something new, and this has seen him cementing his place in the England team while Giles has been out with injury. Panesar has drawn criticisms though. A lack of concentration in the field has cost England dear, both in terms of dropped catches and in runs. Panesar’s batting ability has drawn questions as well, averaging just 4, with a high score of 9. Unless Monty can improve these fields, its unlikely he will be England’s long-term answer to England’s spinning question.

The third spinner that England has played in the last year is 37-year Shaun Udal. Udal only made his Test debut at the age of 36, against Pakistan last year. He followed his debut up by taking 4-14 against India, including the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. Udal is an attacking right-arm off breaker, who has a First-class bowling average of 32, and a strike rate of 65.5. Udal has also been known to chip in with vital runs, averaging nearly 20 in Test-matches, and over 20 in First-class matches. The main factor Udal has against him is his age, as England look to build a team for the next World Cup, and beyond.

Gareth Batty is man who after threatening to break into the Test side has faded away from the scene completely, it being nearly exactly a year since he played against Bangladesh. Batty’s domestic credentials are impressive, with an average of just over 30. However, he has failed to impress on the international scene, with an average of 66, and a strike rate of 126. There are major doubts about Batty’s ability to turn the ball enough to trouble top batsmen at Test level. Batty is an accomplished batsman himself, averaging 22 in First-class cricket and an impressive 20 at Test level. Despite this, the arrival of Monty Panesar seems to have put yet another obstacle in the way of Batty becoming England’s main spinner.

Ian Blackwell is a hard-hitting batting all-rounder, who as yet has failed to convince England’s selectors that he could perform at Test level. In his one Test to date, he failed with the bat, scoring just 4 runs in his only innings in Nagpur, and taking no wickets for 71 runs with the ball. That said, in First-class cricket he averages 38 with the bat, and 43 with the ball, slightly high and although his batting makes up for it for Somerset, it wouldn’t for England. After his failed Test against India, it seems unlikely he will be recalled in a bowling capacity in the foreseeable future.

A name for the future is 25 year-old Warwickshire spinner Alex Loudon. Although he is yet to play a Test match, he was called into the England squad for the Pakistan tour in 2005-06. Loudon is right-arm off-breaker, who is also a promising batsman. Loudon has taken 76 First-class wickets to date at an average of 40, but brought his average down to 36 in last year. His batting is almost up to that of a specialist batsman, averaging 32 in First-class cricket in the last year. It can only be a matter of time before Loudon is given his opportunity at Test Level.