Ibatch40 asks: Why is it harder to find English spinners than enriching uranium? What can be done as the county schedule now favours them even less? I was aware they were sending Lions teams abroad, could the ECB fund young spinners to play whole seasons overseas as part of their development?
It’s a decent suggestion - I remember interviewing Terry Jenner back in the day, who through funding from the Brian Johnston Memorial Trust helped develop English young leg-spinners. Adil Rashid - the best we’ve had for 50 years – was one notable graduate (I still can’t believe he never played a Test match in Australia nor won more caps generally but that’s another matter). Plenty comes down to the time of year when CC is played and some over-officiousness in the past (eg Ciderabad).
It will be interesting to see how the pitches play in late Aug/Sept after this heatwave. Hopefully we see more spin and counties back their own. I note Lancs have once again hired an overseas in Noman Ali … I really feel for Tom Hartley, who I think has excellent potential.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
