Spinners on the brink: Is Test cricket pushing them towards extinction?

Spin has been an integral component of Test cricket since the longest format was introduced. Several close-in fielders waiting to test the batter’s defence is a treat to watch. And in the past, batters would spend hours honing their defence, dropping the ball under their feet.

But the advent of the One-Day Internationals and the dominance of the West Indian pace battery has led to more focus on the fast bowlers in the 1980s and 90s. But the turn of the century saw legendary spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan playing a big role in the new Twenty20 format, which gave the art of spin a new lease of life. 

The wrist spinners have slowly gained more domination in the format than the rest. Two decades later, the ultra-aggressive approach of the batters has once again started to diminish the role of the spinners, a phenomenon that is reflected even in the longest format.

While the right-arm wrist spinners and the left-arm spinners are still considered an asset in Twenty20 formats, their roles are limited in Test with more reliance on off-spinners, who could bring the variety, keep the over-rate in check, apart from giving the pacers a break. 

Australia’s spin options

This Ashes Test series has shown that there is no space for spinners, with even Australian great Nathan Lyon having a limited role. The 38-year-old spinner with 567 Test wickets was picked in two Tests before a hamstring tear ruled him out of the contest.

Australia's squad still has plenty of options, with some proven Test and white-ball specialists to fill in that role.

Talented leg-spinner Adam Zampa is yet to make his Test debut and has been reduced to a white-ball specialist. Off-spinner Todd Murphy, who made a stunning debut in India, was tipped to fill the void created by Lyon’s absence on the SCG pitch, which generally assists spinners. Mitchell Swepson has been left out in the cold, while Ashton Agar has not been part of the set-up for the past two years.

For the first time in 138 years, Australia decided not to field a spinner at the SCG, where sometimes even two have played in the past, bringing sharp responses from former players, with another leg-spinner, Stuart MacGill, calling the move “a disgrace”.

Greener pitches and reliance on seam

In a scathing interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, MacGill criticised the omission of Murphy.

Mitchell Swepson, who grew up watching Shane Warne spin a web on the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch, feels the Australian pitches are moving away from a spin-friendly nature even in domestic Sheffield Shield matches.

"I think we've seen it coming in Sheffield Shield cricket. We see fewer and fewer spin bowlers coming into the game, particularly in certain parts of the country, and that's what we're now seeing a little bit with the Test arena,” the 32-year-old leg-spinner told AAP.

"We're seeing greener wickets and seam being the main source of wickets, and it's such a shame because there's definitely a spot for spin bowling in Test cricket.”

Reasons for extra grass on pitches

Even the travelling England Ashes squad consists of just one frontline spinner – Shoaib Bashir. The off-spinner has not played a single Test in the entire series, with Joe Root and Will Jacks filling in the role. The composition of both teams paints the true picture of the current status of the pitches.

The spinners still have a big role to play only on the Indian sub-continent pitches, which offer turn from the second day or even on the first day. Despite the quality options from the spin department, the focus is on medium pacers on deteriorating wickets, even in the domestic competition.

The last match at Melbourne Cricket Ground saw about 10mm of grass, which makes it difficult for the ball to grip. The typical length of grass on Australian pitches is 3-6 mm, but that has seen a huge increase, 7-10mm, to protect the wicket from searing heat, which has minimised the role of the spinners. It is the fourth time Australia have not played a tweaker in their past six Tests.

The Boxing Day Test finished in two days on a Melbourne pitch that was rated unsatisfactory by the International Cricket Council.

"We keep producing wickets we don't think are going to spin, and seam and cracks are going to play a big part... You get pushed into a corner in a way," stand-in skipper Steve Smith said on Saturday.

Do Australia have good spin options?

They have at least five good spin options who could fill in the slot, with Lyon being the top contender, while Zampa remains the white-ball specialist. Swepson is the leading wicket-taker in the current season with 21 wickets, while off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli is close behind with 20 wickets.

Apart from these two, Murphy, Kuhnemann, and South Australian Lloyd Pope have been making the headlines in the Sheffield Shield. The 26-year-old Pope shot into prominence in 2018 when he demolished England in the Under-19 World Cup. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar made a stunning debut as a 19-year-old in 2013, scoring 98 against England, but has only played four more Tests since, picking nine wickets in total.

Former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori, the current Australia assistant coach, has said that this has been the trend over the last couple of years. Unless the wickets change, spinners in Australia will increasingly feel like an endangered species.