No decent spinner and no sign of one!

Lot of talk about the Ashes,but one point that hasn’t been discussed is our lack of any decent spinner!

It’s concerning very concerning in fact, as much as we love Leach he is not the answer!

Imo his wickets in the CC have been down to the wicket and he is no where near good enough, and we have no one else either.
 


Leach is more than capable of playing the Ashley Giles role of keeping an end tied down and buying the odd wicket through miserly bowling, but you're right - we don't have a spinner who can do that, and run through a side.

I'd far rather have Leach than Moeen, particularly in England - but he won't bowl a side out or be too threatening.

You're definitely right about Ciderabad being a bit factor in his CC stats
 
I'd imagine they will go back to Ali for the 5th test

The wider picture is that the ECB need to start some longer term thinking and establish an academy in the sub continent. Send our young spinners over there every winter and let them learn the subtleties of bowling on dry pitches. I've said this many times before
 
I'd imagine they will go back to Ali for the 5th test

The wider picture is that the ECB need to start some longer term thinking and establish an academy in the sub continent. Send our young spinners over there every winter and let them learn the subtleties of bowling on dry pitches. I've said this many times before
That's far too sensible and long-term for the Muppets at the ECB, though.
 
Lot of talk about the Ashes,but one point that hasn’t been discussed is our lack of any decent spinner!

It’s concerning very concerning in fact, as much as we love Leach he is not the answer!

Imo his wickets in the CC have been down to the wicket and he is no where near good enough, and we have no one else either.

Mo is the best spinner in England clearly, will be back in the side before long, he was just a bit out of form

Had the most wickets in the world before that year.

Lyon had a bad series bar the 2nd innings when it was turning square first test, so lets not pretend that he had much impact

Bean a lot of calls for Leach to be in the side, but he was actually pretty poor, was surprised.

Ali consistently gets good players out like.
 
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I'd imagine they will go back to Ali for the 5th test

The wider picture is that the ECB need to start some longer term thinking and establish an academy in the sub continent. Send our young spinners over there every winter and let them learn the subtleties of bowling on dry pitches. I've said this many times before
"Longer term thinking"isn't something I'd associate with the ECB
 
Mo is the best spinner in England clearly, will be back in the side before long, he was just a bit out of form

Had the most wickets in the world before that year.

Lyon had a bad series bar the 2nd innings when it was turning square first test, so lets not pretend that he had much impact

Bean a lot of calls for Leach to be in the side, but he was actually pretty poor, was surprised.

Ali consistently gets good players out like.

I agree the stick that Ali has been getting has been unwarranted and over the top. I agreed with his dropping as he was so out of nick but I think he should be back in the side when he’s back and firing - not sure it should be next week mind. Wasn’t too long ago he ripped through Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the Indians in England without much pitch assistance and I actually think his bowling is generally great in all forms. His battings a lot more erratic though and needs some serious work, or get him down the order
 
I agree the stick that Ali has been getting has been unwarranted and over the top. I agreed with his dropping as he was so out of nick but I think he should be back in the side when he’s back and firing - not sure it should be next week mind. Wasn’t too long ago he ripped through Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the Indians in England without much pitch assistance and I actually think his bowling is generally great in all forms. His battings a lot more erratic though and needs some serious work, or get him down the order

Yeah no problem with him getting dropped, but he will be back, he just is our best spinner and we massively missed him in this series.

I think I am alone in this but I have massive sympathy for all the world cup players who play year round, how many overs did Ali bowl in red ball in the months before the ashes

how many times did Root n co bat
 
I'd imagine they will go back to Ali for the 5th test

The wider picture is that the ECB need to start some longer term thinking and establish an academy in the sub continent. Send our young spinners over there every winter and let them learn the subtleties of bowling on dry pitches. I've said this many times before
Oh Christ. Not Modern, again. Great bloke and everything, but he'll never do it consistently.
Of course, 'modern' is auto speak for "Moeen'. In fairness, he does charactetise our modern failures.
 
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Yeah no problem with him getting dropped, but he will be back, he just is our best spinner and we massively missed him in this series.

I think I am alone in this but I have massive sympathy for all the world cup players who play year round, how many overs did Ali bowl in red ball in the months before the ashes

how many times did Root n co bat

I agree. Said at the start of the year, it’s a shame they couldn’t just push the ashes to 2020 instead of clashing it with the World Cup and let us have a summer focusing on each
 
Think Leech has done well enough to keep his place. He's outbowled Lyon since he came into the side not that it matters when Lyon is backing the aussie quicks and Steve Smith runs.
 
Yeah no problem with him getting dropped, but he will be back, he just is our best spinner and we massively missed him in this series.

I think I am alone in this but I have massive sympathy for all the world cup players who play year round, how many overs did Ali bowl in red ball in the months before the ashes

how many times did Root n co bat

I assume you mean we missed Ali in top form? - he was no miss in the form he was in.

I don't mind Leach but he's not going to bowl good teams out. It will all be immaterial when Simon Harmer qualifies to play for England anyway.
 

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