ADAM DOSUNMU SLATER speaks to Tabraiz Shamsi and Alana King about how a perceived vulnerability in the white-ball game has been turned into a strength
When a historically significant event occurs, many like to make projections of what may come. In 1992, political scientist Francis Fukuyama called the dissolution of the Soviet Union the 'end of history'. In the 30 years since his prophecy of a dominant western world without aggressors or competition appears to be flawed.
In cricket, a similarly false prediction of the 'end of spinners' was made at the advent of T20 cricket in 2003. Spin bowlers were expected at the time to be targeted - damage limitation the order rather than containment and wickets.
The bowlers tasked with leading the way in this new dawn of cricket were fearful. Speaking to The Cricketer in 2020, former Northamptonshire off-spinner Jason Brown recalled, "I think we just expected to get teed up and that would be it". Martyn Ball of Gloucestershire wondered, "was it going to be the death of the everyday spinner?"
Fast forward almost 20 years, and the T20 format has been the making of the slow bowler. The statistics back this up. In T20 internationals, eight of the top 10 bowlers in the ICC rankings for both current players and all-time are occupied by spinners. In T20 World Cup history, four of the top five highest wicket-takers are spin bowlers, with Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan topping the list.
The same can be said for domestic and franchise cricket. The bowling stars of today are the likes of Sunil Narine, Adam Zampa and Ravichandran Ashwin. The spinners aren't picked to rush through four overs and limit the boundaries, they are in sides to take wickets and win games.
Samit Patel and Shamsi have led the way for Rockets men (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Even though modern batters had improvements in technology, spent hours in the gym building their strength and were swinging harder than ever, it was no match. Flight, dip, turn and a bit of mystery were enough to bamboozle the world's best. So when cricket reached another historically significant event with the arrival of the Hundred, talk of the spinner's death was absent.
Instead, some teams like the Trent Rockets see spin as a cornerstone of their success in the new format. They set their philosophy out early on way back in October 2019, when they made Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan the first player to be picked in the Hundred draft.
The Rockets retained his services as their first pick in this year's edition, to join the other slow bowlers, Samit Patel and Matthew Carter. With Khan on international duty this season, the management stuck with their commitment to a top international wrist spinner and brought in South African left-armer Tabraiz Shamsi.
The same can be said for the women's side. They have also gone with a top international wrist spinner as their main strike bowler, recruiting Australia's Alana King. Other bowlers like Sarah Glenn, Georgia Davis and Bryony Smith make up a spin-heavy attack.
Betting on spin has paid off. During the Rockets men's group winning run their top bowler has been Patel, with 10 wickets at an average of 16.40. Shamsi has also produced valuable spells and Khan showed his value with a match-winning 3 for 25 against the Oval Invincibles.
Graeme Swann is part of Andy Flower's backroom team (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
For Shamsi, it is no surprise that spinners are doing well in the Hundred. "You know, most of the top bowlers, they're spinners," he told The Cricketer, "so I think that just shows how important good spinners are to any squad.
"It would be interesting to do a study of the teams that have won T20 competitions, or even the Hundred last year and the number of games that teams have won and you'll see there'll be a huge contribution from spinners in those games.
"So, I think teams have started realising that and you know, you can see that in team selections as well, whether it's in England, or in Australia or South Africa, you know, pitches and conditions that are not necessarily seen as friendly, but you always see spinners doing well."
Who'd have thought that an Afghanistan leggie and a West Indian mystery spinner would be two of the most expensive picks in a short format draft 30 years ago? But when Khan and Narine were chosen at the highest price for this season, ahead of the likes of the best T20 batter in the world Babar Azam, it certainly sent a message.
This year's Hundred statistics show why teams are choosing the slower options. Spinners like Narine, Patel, Zampa and Mason Crane are near the top on economy and wickets. Narine tops them all with his six appearances returning 11 wickets at an average of 11.00.
"Depending on the situation of the game, there's no point in searching for wickets when you can't afford to be searching for them but I just bowl my best ball and I know chances will come"
Shamsi understands his importance and spoke of a collective unity between the slower bowlers as they work together to get the best results. "That's a big thing," he added.
"Whenever I play, especially with the Trent Rockets, we have some very good spinners and we're always sharing knowledge with each other, especially in the middle when one spinner bowls before the other one, not just on how we think that other spinners should bowl, but also how the wickets reacting. We're really fortunate to have very good spinners in the squad, so that makes things a lot easier."
Shamsi has had one of his boyhood heroes to call on for guidance as the Rockets’ backroom staff have been curated with spin in mind. Graeme Swann is the bowling coach and has been brought in to assist Andy Flower, an addition that Shamsi has relished.
"Growing up when I started bowling spin, he was somebody that was playing for England and doing really well. So, I used to always enjoy his bowling. Because me being a left arm leg spinner, there isn't much reference in the world game, so guys like Graeme Swann that spin the ball into the right-hander, I used to watch a lot of his bowling," Shamsi recalls, "I'd pick up on areas that he's trying to go and look at the types of fields that he set and copy those.
Bryony Smith has seven wickets in the group phase (David Rogers/Getty Images)
"It's been a great help having somebody that's played the international game at the highest level around. It helps you a lot as a bowler knowing that your coach understands what you're going through, and also the challenges that you might face so he's always able to give you good advice and also just keeps you positive."
No group of spinners have had a tournament to remember quite like King though. The young leg-spinner made headlines with a hat-trick at Old Trafford against the Manchester Originals to emulate fellow Victorian, Shane Warne.
King also bowled back-to-back sets for no runs and unsurprisingly has the best economy rate of the top five bowlers in the women's competition. Her keys to success? It's all about taking on the challenge.
"Bowling in the short format, especially in the Hundred you know that they're gonna come after you but I love that challenge and I know the other spinners do otherwise we wouldn't be bowling spin. Maybe go back 30 years ago and spinners weren't really around. But we're changing the game and moving the game forward," she said.
So, what do the coaches say to get the best out of the slower bowlers?
King says they try to keep it simple: "They tell us to bowl our best ball. That's good enough, that's going to create enough chances and enough doubt in the batter's mind.
KIng's hat-trick heroics evoked memories of Shane Warne's own history at Old Trafford (Ben Radford/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)
"Depending on the situation of the game, there's no point in searching for wickets when you can't afford to be searching for them but I just bowl my best ball and I know chances will come."
In Shamsi's case, his homework is meticulous, studying opposition batters and working with analysts to figure out the best areas before he hones in on hitting them in practice.
"I always like to do my analysis before I go to my training and then come up with certain deliveries that I think I'm going to be bowling in the game, and then try and nail it in training," he said, "so that I know once I get to the game, I'm fully comfortable mentally knowing that I've practised the areas that I want to bowl and it's all up to execution."
But ultimately, it's all about staying positive. "You know, I think that's the most important thing," Shamsi said, "playing in the Hundred is just about being positive and going into the game with full confidence in your abilities."
The Rockets will be hoping the good mood continues for the side as their spinners look to guide them to the Hundred trophy in the final at Lords. Whatever the result, you know a slow bowler will play a part in proceedings, whose colours they will be wearing is yet to be decided.
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