Sunday 22 December 2013

Farewell to the old fashioned spinner

The decision by Graeme Swann to retire from all forms of cricket is to be applauded. Few professional sportsmen have the nerve and the insight to recognise when it's time to go.

Swann has been a breath of fresh air to fans of my generation. The last old fashioned off spinner was undoubtedly John Emburey of Middlesex. Like Swann, he could also be an obdurate and effective tail end batsman. Both were great exponents of flight variation to deceive even the most astute players of spin. Emburey lost six years of Test Cricket due to his participation in the rebel tour to South Africa. He took 147 Test wickets in 64 Test matches. When compared with Swann's 255 Test wickets in 60 matches, Emburey appears decidedly inferior. Sadly, the figures don't tell the whole story though.

For much of his career, Emburey was forced to play the role of the stock bowler whose principal function was to keep the runs down. He played in the late 1970s and 1980s at a time when the West Indian fast bowling machine steam rollered over all comers. The West Indians seldom felt the need to play a spinner and on the rare occasions when they did, they would play the Roger Harper whose fielding prowess was second only to the legendary South African, Colin Bland. Batsmen would go after Harper because he was their only respite from the fast bowling assault of Holding, Garner, Marshall and company. Thus Harper acquired a decent haul of Test wickets.

Had Emburey been allowed to bowl like Swann in Test matches, we can rest assured that his haul would have been far greater. During his playing years with Middlesex, Emburey would usually be complemented by the guile and craft of the slow left arm bowler, Phil Edmonds. They took wickets for fun when bowling in tandem to prove that for the last two generations, few batsmen have been very good at playing the spinners. We are told that one of the reasons for Swann's demise on this tour is the decision by the Australian coaches to adopt a different tactic against him. They have reminded their batsmen that you can't be out caught in the car park. Ergo, try and hit the ball in to the car park. They have done so admirably and heralded a decision which can't have surprised too many. Swann has never been afraid to toss the ball up. Such bowlers either bowl sides out or get taken apart. After seven years at the top, Swann has been worked out. There is no shame in that. For years, top batsmen have plotted the downfall of many a spinner by comparing notes and devising strategies to counteract their effectiveness. If Swann had the benefit of a top class slow left arm bowler with whom to bowl in tandem, I believe he would not yet have retired. His decision has been made because he was carrying the slow bowling duties on his shoulders for too long. Even the great Jim Laker had to call it quits in the end and only a brave man would point to a greater England off spinner. Laker took 193 wickets in 46 Test matches and played his entire career on uncovered wickets. That gave rise to famous Old Trafford Test in 1956 when he secured all but one of the twenty wickets for just 90 runs.

I suspect it will be some time before we have the luxury of an old fashioned spinner like Swann again. He will be sorely missed by England and not least for his brilliant slip fielding skills. On the day our only old fashioned spin bowler departed the great game, one of the last great old fashioned sports commentators did likewise. For people of my generation, David Coleman will always be associated with his many years as compere of the BBC quiz show "A Question of Sport". His enthusiasm was natural and spontaneous. You can't teach that. David Coleman had it in spades and it was barn door obvious to anyone who watched or listened to him. He was a peer of people like Brian Johnston and Bill McLaren. These were people with a genuine passion for the sport they covered. They would doubtless have done so for free. Their motivation was not the money they earned but rather the pleasure they gave.

All great teams have to face the day when the party is over eventually and the current England cricket team is a case in point. I read a great article by Geoff Boycott yesterday echoing my own thoughts. Whomsoever is captain or coach for the next Tests needs to dispense with Pieterson. His presence is divisive and as Boycott pointed out, "You can't make runs when you're back in the pavilion". Pieterson's show boating has cost England too often and we now need to seek a grafter in his place. England fans from the early 1960s will recall the late Ken Barrington. Ken didn't have an ounce of Pieterson's talent but he adopted an "over my dead body" approach when it came to his wicket. In 82 Test matches, Barrington amassed 6,806 runs on uncovered wickets at an average of 58.67.  In 101 matches, Pieterson has scored 7,988 runs at an average of just 47.83 on covered pitches. Barrington might not have been the prettiest batsman to watch, but he didn't play to look pretty. They said you could all but see the Union Jack on his back when Ken when out to bat. That is precisely the type of player we so desperately need now. Unlike Pieterson, neither Barington nor Laker received the MBE. They didn't receive any recognition but then they didn't play for recognition. They played for England.  

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