Cricinfo - Blogs - Rob's Lobs - Schofield, Schofield give us a twirl

That such crumbs should supply any sort of comfort whatsoever tells you all you need to know about the state of English spin. Consider the brewing debate over how many slowies the selectors should nominate for the winter’s three Tests in Sri Lanka. On the basis that Michael Vaughan and Pietersen offer more loop, flight and enterprise than most of the regular county set, does anybody bar Monty Panesar DEMAND selection? Not that I am aware of, hence the likelihood that Rashid will be blooded even earlier than Schofield was. And the latter now accepts that, at 21, he was immature, perhaps a tad arrogant, and that coping with expectations was way beyond his ken.

Not that we have any justifiable reason for expectation. The last world-beating England off-spinner was Jim Laker half a century ago; the last world-beating England leggie was BT Bosanquet, a century ago. Of the dozen spinners with 200 Test wickets, the only Pom is Derek Underwood, and his offerings might just as easily have been characterised as medium-paced cutters. South Africa are even more unblessed, yet Daniel Vettori’s membership of that elite is proof that seamer-friendly conditions should be no bar to entry.

Fitness permitting, Monty should gain admission to the club, and Ashley Giles probably would have done so but for the physical ailments that reportedly make his retirement imminent, but the question remains: why is it such a struggle?

The common complaint, as Giles reinforced when we chatted in 2005, is spin-resistant pitches, a legacy at least in part of Britain’s traditionally inclement climate. The same resistant pitches, presumably, that have seen Mushtaq Ahmed emerge as the key bowler this summer and the past four. In fairness, of late, global warming has led to drier early-season conditions, hence, perhaps, the encouragement for, and strides taken by, the boy Rashid - in Yorkshire of all places.

But the suspicion remains that the traditional English mindset – cautious, pragmatic, proud, more fearful of embarrassment than failure - is at odds with the art of spin. It says much, surely, that the one significant Test career chart an English spinner does top - Ray Illingworth’s economy rate of 1.91 runs per over is the lowest among those who have bowled 10,000 balls over the past 50 years – is one that celebrates defensiveness.

The exceptions-in-chief - the two Phils, Edmonds and Tufnell, and Johnny Wardle – were all mavericks who fell foul of Lord’s. Hence one’s delight at Schofield’s rebirth. However one yearns for Monty to take a leaf out of his mentor Bishan Bedi’s book by tossing it up a little more and bowling a smidge slower, Schofield, another maverick, is likelier to defeat opponents through wit and surprise. Mark Butcher, his captain at Surrey, is certainly quick to laud his flipper.

If he can marry that natural brio and brimming self-belief to control – and his Twenty20 curmudgeonliness suggests he may well be on the way to doing just that - Schofield may yet emerge as the fully-formed “mystery spinner” Nasser Hussain clamoured for when he was initially selected against Zimbabwe in 2000. Sharing a dressing-room with Ian Salisbury, England’s last Great White Legspin Hope, has clearly been beneficial.

“He told me to get the field right because unless you’re Shane Warne you’re always going to bowl bad balls,” Schofield told me a couple of weeks ago. Ah, the W-word. “People need to realise that you can’t compare anyone to him. Fortunately, I think most do now. Look at Adil Rashid. Yorkshire have treated him very well, he’s bowling very consistently and turns it a long way, but the Indians got after him. You’ve got to expect to struggle.”

Schofield, of course, is as well-versed in the art of struggling as any contemporary cricketer. Happily, he is luckier than Edmonds, Tufnell and Wardle: the England selectors and management these days tend to be more enlightened and compassionate, not to say more indulging of apparent soloists.

Let’s just hope, as he develops that pragmatic streak, that Schofield can hang on to that lil’ ol’ devil inside.

"South Africa are even more unblessed, yet Daniel Vettori’s membership of that elite is proof that seamer-friendly conditions should be no bar to entry."

Pardon? Surely Daniel Vettori is a New Zealander - indeed the current New Zealand one-day captain-in-waiting. He has never, so far as I can judge from his Cricinfo biography, played for a South African team. Did you mean to write instead either "New Zealand" or "Paul Adams?"

I agree that it's a perfectly valid point, that spinners CAN thrive in seam-friendly conditions - but not, maybe, if all the grassroots clubs want seam bowlers. Remember that Giles was forced to be a medium-pacer at club level before he rebelled. That, I suggest, is where the management should be looking, and on current evidence, may well have been.

This week leg-spin guru Peter Ollier reminded us that Shane Warne didn't make his test debut until 23. It is probably salutory for the likes of Adil Rashid that we should be looking for him to have at least another couple of seasons to perfect his stock leg-break before exposing him to international cricket. Salisbury and Schofield were both examples of leggies thrust into the limelight before they were the finished article. Tiger Bill O'Reilly's advice to Richie Benaud, which he passed to Warne, was to forget about variations and concentrate on being able to land a genuine leg-break on a spot outside legstump and spin it past off. Even just bowling that ball, with varying degrees of turn off the pitch, is effective, and when it is second nature other balls can be added. It is natural for any young cricketer to be experimental, but leg-spin seems to require more discipline and resiliance than any other cricketing skill. Piyush Chawla of India is another talented young leggie thrust into the limelight too soon.

Yes, of course, the W-word. When Warne was selected for Australia and even for Victoria, most people (genuine experts like Benaud and Border excepted) thought that the board members had had a few too many drinks at the selection meeting. Warne had not yet returned any outstanding figures at grade level and had troubled few batsmen. He was selected based on what he could do, not what he had done- because he had been spotted by the right people.

This is a huge contrast to the English setup, where the number of first class teams is much higher than in Australia, and the talent pool much wider- why give a young spinner a game when a county can sign Anil Kumble or Daniel Vettori for the season? With less exposure, younger bowlers with great talent, but ordinary figures- due to inexperience- are going to struggle to be noticed. This affects spinners much more than pace bowlers, because fast bowling talent is easier to identify- raw pace, swing and bounce are much more noticable than subtle variations in flight and turn, which can be developed into lethal weapons. English counties need to find ways to spot this talent while these bowlers are still young, to help them harness their ability faster, rather than waiting for them to do it themselves, by which time they only have a few years left in the game. Only once this happens can England hope to have a bowler to rival Warne.