So often in England we talk about the value of all-rounders following the great tradition of Botham, Flintoff and Stokes. The priceless ability to have 5 proper bowlers and not weaken the batting is a distinct advantage.
South Africa just seem to produce them. I remember watching Brian McMillan in 1994 and not long after Jack Kallis and Shaun Pollock arrived. Throughout that era a number of other decent allrounders made an impact; Lance Klusner, Andrew Hall, Nicky Boje etc.
Yet the balance of the great West Indies team and the great Australian teams was different. They each had 6 batsmen, a keeper and a strong 4 man attack. Perhaps the best England team of recent times was also built in a similar way with Anderson, Broad and Swann being the main 3 bowlers accompanied by one of Bresnan or Finn.
Clearly it helps if you have a top class spinner, not only as they are a variation and a threat in their own right, but they allow the seam bowlers to rotate from the opposite end.
We will all cross our fingers over the next 6 months that Ben Stokes can fix his knee just as he has most other things recently. That will add balance but irrespective of that, the bowling attack will need to evolve, in part because Broad has retired and Moeen re-retired and in part because the next two away assignments are India and Australia.
There are lots of seam bowlers queuing up to play test cricket. At the front of the queue are Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts with exciting prospects like Gus Atkinson not far behind.
Stokes likes to have a spinner in his team and this is where the challenge lies, especially as he will want two in the side in India.
A quick look at the county championship numbers to date is revealing:
I have included Harmer for context. He is the only specialist spinner to have played all 11 games this year so far. Mason Crane and Amar Virdi, both England Lions, have played none.
Liam Dawson is having a good year, but the shocking thing here is the likes of Parkinson, Moriarty and Bess having to go out on loan to even get a game!
Back in April, Rehan Ahmed asked for overs as he wanted to build on his momentum, what he has got so far is 100 overs only.
Will Jacks has taken 5 wickets from his 64 overs whilst Moriarty has had to go to Yorkshire to get a bowl.
Lets assume this season is an odd anomaly and have a look at the career records of those to play for England and the Lions in recent years.
On this evidence Jack Leach is both our best and most experienced bowler. Assuming his back heals and he has some luck he can expect to come back into the XI.
That makes life tough for Liam Dawson who offers a similar style of bowling but with a weaker strike rate and less wickets.
Too often in England we look at economy rates with spinners, the question Stokes often asks is ‘what a player will give him on his best day’ and that is where this gets interesting. Lets look at strike rate (how many balls bowled per wicket) and 5 wicket hauls.
Parkinson and Ahmed both strike every 56/57 balls and Dan Moriarty strikes every 53 balls. Ahmed has two 5 wicket hauls meaning he is taking one every 6 matches he plays. Parkinson is taking one every 8.5 matches he plays and Moriarty every 2 matches.
24 year old left arm spinner Dan Moriarty takes a wicket every 53 balls and has six five wicket hauls in 13 first class matches … but has had to go on loan this season to get a game???
Rehan Ahmed looks like a serious cricketer, he is still a teenager and has a very high ceiling. His ability to impact games with bat, in the field and with the ball is huge. He will be especially dangerous in a 4th innings and unlike many leg spinners will be a nightmare for left handers owing to his googly.
Dan Moriarty is a tall and accurate left arm spinner, if you want a bowler who is not dependant on conditions to bowl long, accurate and threatening spells he fits the bill. That strike rate and the frequency with which he takes wickets could mark him out as our own Nathan Lyon.
Which of these young men will go on to play for England may well depend on the balance of the team, will Stokes bowl, if so that favours Rehan as part of a 5man attack.
The fact that they have only played 12 and 13 first class matches is criminal, but perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise. They have not been ground down by the negativity of the county grind and defensive mindset, the best way to develop a spinner (or two) may be to do that in the test environment.