England tracks aren’t usually overly favourable to spin bowlers but they remain pivotal to any side. In recent decades there has been a steady reduction of talented twirlers hailing from British shores and the art had almost become unfashionable. But the likes of Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan have made England skippers of the modern era drool with envy - although Graeme Swann has at least prevented current skipper Andrew Strauss from salivating over rivals.
Nevertheless, the observation may be a little premature, but there does seem to be an array of young spin talent who have the potential (that very injudicious, accommodating term) to establish some noteworthy England options for the post-Swann era.
Yorkshire’s battery of spinners
In recent years, Yorkshire have been renowned for producing quality fast bowlers to take advantage of the hard, vivacious Headingley turf. Spinners have been deemed useful support rather than striking demons.
However, soon the Headingley wicket will have to reconsider its specification as Yorkshire have a plethora of young spin talent coming through their ranks.
One hopes that England’s severe mismanagement of Adil Rashid, 22, has not shattered his confidence. He has only been given limited overs airings for England even though his county bowling record and his attacking disposition clearly states that he is more accomplished in the longest form of the game.
A product of Terry Jenner’s spin programme, Rashid recently carried the drinks in South Africa and was subsequently dropped from the squad to face Bangladesh. He would surely have benefited from the spinning conditions on the subcontinent and it could have been a snug introduction to Test cricket. The selection panel thought otherwise and England’s loss will be county cricket’s gain.
David Wainwright and Azeem Rafiq are two other outstanding Yorkshire prospects - the latter having captained the England Under-19s at the World Cup. Off-spinner Rafiq, 19, was also impressive with the ball against Bangladesh Under-19s, claiming 13 wickets from seven One Day Internationals at 19.07. Outgoing England Under-19s coach Mark Robinson is also a firm believer of his captaincy credentials.
Approaching his 25th birthday, Wainwright, whose introduction to first-class cricket has yielded a tidy 56 wickets at 32.78 from 24 matches, is an all-round talent that will carry the weight of expectancy this summer.
While only one of the three starlets are guaranteed to start for Yorkshire, the factor that may accommodate twin spins is that they are all handy with willow in their paws. Furthermore, they all offer diverse bowling actions - an off-spinner, a leg-spinner and a slow left-armer.
In reality, international and Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments will scupper the regular output of such a selection, although it is worth a delectable ponder at Yorkshire’s potential bowling attack: Wainwright, Rashid, Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad and Australia’s Ryan Harris. The attack includes variety, potency and lower-order batting know-how.
Monty opts for a fresh start
On the other side of the country, Monty Panesar has signed for Sussex after being discarded from the England set-up and it could be an uphill struggle to convince the selectors that he is worth a second chance.
The left-arm spinner has been justly lamented for his lack of variety while his questionable cricketing intelligence, coupled with his haphazard fielding, has cast him as both colt hero and England failure.
Although we have yet to witness the rewards, he has worked hard on his variations and could become an instant hit with Sussex - a team that has failed to replace county spin legend Mushtaq Ahmed.
Sussex leg-spinner Will Beer is another talented prodigy but the signing of Panesar should restrict the playing time of both Beer and young off-spinner Ollie Rayner - especially as part-time tweaker Michael Yardy will play a role in the limited overs formats.
Foreign imports will put batsmen in a spin
County cricket will also be the temporary home for some quality overseas spinners.
Piyush Chawla is a major coup for Chris Adam’s Surrey side and he is likely to feature regularly after his commitments with the IPL. The Indian leggie was superb during a short stint at Sussex last year, claiming an incredible 36 wickets from a mere six County Championship outings.
Chawla is joined by another new spin recruit at Surrey - the able but uncomplicated Jonathan Batty, who has moved from Worcestershire. The arrivals are likely to marginalise Chris Schofield’s influence - a player who is likely to be typecast, if he wasn’t already, as a Twenty20 specialist.
Many counties are opting for overseas twirlers. Murali Kartik has switched Middlesex for Somerset, Essex have Danish Kaneria for the first three months of the season, Kent have signed Sri Lanka’s Malinga Bandara for the latter stages, Imran Tahir will represent Warwickshire subject to fitness, while Worcestershire have captured Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.
However, it is the arrival of Ajantha Mendis that will create the most excitement. The mystery spinner can provide a concoction of googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks, and he has the potential to hoodwink county batsmen.
His star may have dropped a tad of late but his introduction to international cricket has made Sri Lanka fans a little less apprehensive of life after Muralitharan. County cricket will be a better place with his capricious flexes of the wrist.
Next week Sport.co.uk examines the batmen who can prosper in county cricket in 2010.