Bloody embarrassing

 

Subject: Bloody embarrassing

What a pathetic sight yesterday watching so called top flight professional batsmen play like a bunch of Sunday-siders. Technique, there was none, little movement of the feet or any attempt to move down the pitch to get to where the ball was pitching to minimise its movement. To be honest the ball wasn't moving that much but the English batsmen continually chose the wrong shot or the wrong line and were out leg-before.

I can remember the great West Indian spin bowlers of the 1950s, Ramadhin and Valentine take the English batting apart. The 1950s were an era of great spin bowling in England with Johnny Wardle, Tony Lock and Jim Laker. Laker grabbed 19 wickets of the available 20 wickets Australian wickets in Manchester. I remember watching the game, he and the pitch was unplayable.

Of course the great Australian spin bowler, Shane Warne's test record shouts out as the most prodigious, 708 test wickets in 145 Tests. His all-round strategic command, pinning teams down with relentless pinpoint bowling won him the accolade of a mental destroyer under which few batsmen could survive.

The equally great Muttiah Muralitharan of  Sri Lanka has another great career best of  800 wickets at an average of 22 runs. He spun the ball a tremendous amount, both ways, making the batsmans life unbearable.

Anil Kumble, the Indian spinners 619 test wickets in 132 test matches and Ravi Ashwin in only 73 Test appearances already has collected 375 wickets.

Finally, back in Australia, Nathan Lyons 394 wickets in only 98 test matches marks him out to be up there with the best.

These diminutive craftsmen lacking perhaps the panache of the fast bowler with his potential to do physical damage, the home crowd roaring him on as he begins his long run up. Instead the unobtrusive spinner shuffles a few paces and bowls a ball spinning out of the front or the back of his hand, spinning this way and that, only when it hits the pitch do you know which way it's turning.

This pitch was not unplayable it was poor shot selection, poor mental application, and finally poor technique. The English team were defeated by the occasion of playing spin on the sub continent, they were mesmerised by the gremlins in their minds eye, they showed no confidence to minimise the turning ball and chose a defensive stance waiting for the ball to come onto the bat. The Indians to a lesser extent also collapsed in their first innings but England's 50 all out was embarrassing.