England’s Test cricket is in need of work in several areas but perhaps the most profound problem rests with spin bowling. When the person identified as your No1 is effectively deemed unselectable on a major winter tour, and his place goes instead to a utility player, then something is fundamentally awry. Where the selectors turn next is anyone’s guess. 

Right now, there’s every chance their priorities lie elsewhere. The top-order batting needs fixing, they need to decide on their best wicketkeeper, and assemble a balanced seam attack armed with a reliable spearhead. 

“At the minute, I don’t think any of them have got spin on their agenda,” one source says. “They need to get things sorted after a ‘nuclear winter’. As always, they’ll forget about spin in an English season, then get to the end and wonder who will bowl spin overseas.”

As England captain, Ben Stokes has been supportive of spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir, and very skilful in the way he handled them, but the pivot towards Will Jacks when the team came under pressure in Australia was a lurch towards the kind of pragmatism that has afflicted many English teams, both international and domestic, in modern times.

James Coles, the 22-year-old Sussex player, aspires to “do a Jacks” and get into Test cricket as a batsman-who-bowls. “If you look at the way the Ashes went, teams are now veering away from playing frontline spinners — even Australia were leaving out Nathan Lyon,” he told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. “There’s an option where I can play as a batting all-rounder that can go at two an over, then take wickets in the fourth innings. That’s probably my best way of getting in.”

Graeme Swann, England’s greatest Test spin bowler in the past 30 years, and who until recently coached Lions players before falling out of favour, argues that the problems run deep, and county coaches and players need to be more positive in outlook.

“If you’re going to be world class, then you’ve got to think like a world-class bowler and attack to take wickets,” Swann says. “The reason that I used to take wickets in my first over is that I came on with what you might call a deluded self-belief that I was going to take wickets, and I attacked immediately, putting pressure on the batsmen, knowing my first ten to 15 deliveries were the be-all and end-all, and that was when I was likeliest to strike. 

“I tried to promote a positive outlook [with the Lions] and had pushback. I was told bowlers weren’t happy that I didn’t like a deep point for a new right-handed batsman. I was flabbergasted. 

“There are genuinely talented bowlers in our set-up, but the real question is how do we get the best messaging into them? If they grow up believing it is hard to bowl spin in April and May, and September, then it’s giving them an excuse to be mediocre.”

Moeen Ali recently voiced similar concerns about a lack of knowledge within the English game about the art of spin bowling, and it is a view also shared by Monty Panesar, another prolific wicket-taker for England at Test level between 2006 and 2013. Panesar wants the ECB to hold meetings with the counties to forge a common plan. 

“Rob Key [the managing director of England men’s cricket] needs to put pressure on counties and coaches and say if you don’t know how to captain a spinner we will do a seminar. We need those conversations to encourage captains to bowl spinners early season. 

“Maybe Stokes could get all the county captains together and talk to them about their game plans, ask them why they are not using spin more, and make captains and coaches accountable. That’s the only way the narrative will change.” 

Panesar also feels that the bigger counties, with bigger budgets allowing them to sign more players, should take a lead. “It was sad that Shoaib Bashir had to scout around for a new county,” he says. “If he can bowl well on Test-playing grounds for England, maybe he’ll be a good bowler when he plays there for a county. 

“Surrey would have been perfect. He could have been Gareth Batty’s project. If a big county like Surrey are not promoting specialist spinners, how are things going to change? Amar Virdi [a former specialist spinner at Surrey] has been squeezed out of the game. I don’t think he is playing any more. Other counties will follow what Surrey do.” 

Surrey, in fact, have just signed an overseas spinner, the Indian Rahul Chahar, while Leicestershire’s recruitment of Ajaz Patel, the Mumbai-born New Zealand international, may eat into the overs bowled for them by one of England’s brightest prospects Rehan Ahmed. 

Mason Crane, 29, a leg spinner on his third county at Glamorgan, writes eloquently in the latest issue of The Cricketer about the dangers of specialist slow bowlers falling victim to short-term thinking: “This is a world of struggling to get a game. A world of an over here and there until the occasional big day comes around, where you’re expected to win your side a game. 

“A world of being used for range-hitting in the nets… of watching a part-timer do your job instead, and no care of whether you might have been able to do more. Time is the key factor with any spinner… time that many are not afforded.” 

Peter Such, a former England off spinner who from 2009 to 2019 was the ECB’s national spin-bowling lead (a post that no longer exists), says that he has witnessed a steady erosion of spin’s role. 

“We have had some top-class spin bowlers — Swann, Panesar, John Emburey, Phil Tufnell and the like — but it has been drifting on a downhill trend for a long time. To an extent we may be reaping what we have sown with the reduction of spin overs you see bowled. That has a knock-on effect on the development of our young spinners.” 

Such, 61, is now a county match referee and says he sees plenty of talented young spinners, but worries about them getting the necessary opportunities. “It comes down to miles on the clock,” he says. “If you’re not bowling and learning your trade, you’re not going to get good enough, quick enough. It also comes down to surfaces. If the ball turns you’ll see spinners bowl, if it doesn’t turn, you won’t.”

Swann, though, maintains that you have to earn the right to bowl. “You can’t leave it to your captain to let you bowl ten overs, try and keep the runs down, then tinker with the field to try and get wickets. A captain will only keep you on if you’re taking wickets. If not, it’s easy for him to go back to the seamers. You’ve got to earn the volume [of overs].” 

Such still believes there are openings for red-ball specialists, because so many players now pursue the franchise route. “I’ve said to a lot of young spinners, everyone is looking to get on the short-format white-ball bus. The opportunity is therefore in the longer format and Test cricket. Nail it there and you can have a very fulfilling and lucrative career.”

England’s spin options for Test cricket 

England are scheduled to play 12 Tests in the next 12 months: three each at home to New Zealand and Pakistan, then next winter three in South Africa, two in Bangladesh (where they might deploy two frontline spinners) plus a one-off pink-ball Test in Australia. 

Off-spinners 

Shoaib Bashir Derbyshire, aged 22; 19 Tests, 68 wkts, ave: 39.00; 35 first-class matches, 87 wkts, ave: 50.04
Last year he was England’s No1 spinner but an injury cost him momentum and he lost his place in Australia. Surplus to Somerset’s needs, he has moved to Derbyshire. He is tall, generates bounce and turn but, according to Moeen Ali, still has lots to learn. England contract runs until September.

Will Jacks Surrey, aged 27; 6 Tests, 12 wkts, ave: 46.16; 61 first-class matches, 55 wkts, ave: 43.47
Surprisingly played four Tests in Australia as England sought to bolster their batting. Has potential, but will need to groove his action if he is to improve control. As he is at the IPL he won’t play red-ball cricket before the New Zealand Tests. Two-year England contract.

Jack Carson Sussex, aged 25; 64 first-class matches, 176 wkts, ave: 33.44
His county coach Paul Farbrace rates him as the best spin bowler under the age of 30 in the country, saying: “He has got all the attributes to be an international cricketer.” Graeme Swann’s verdict: “He’s a very aggressive type of bowler and gives it a proper rip.” 

Farhan Ahmed Notts, aged 18; 14 first-class matches, 39 wkts, ave: 34.82
Precocious talent. Recently performed well at the Under-19 World Cup, helping England to reach the final. “Farhan is one I’d be looking at straight away,” Swann said. “He’s got the potential to be a world-class spinner for the next 15 years if he’s given the right guidance.”

Left-arm spinners 

Jack Leach Somerset, aged 34; 39 Tests, 142 wkts, ave: 34.07; 165 first-class matches, 547 wkts, ave: 27.62
Hasn’t played Tests since the Pakistan tour in 2024 but is England’s most experienced spinner. Peter Such says: “I think Leach is the best spin bowler in the country and should be playing for England.”

Liam Dawson Hampshire, aged 36; 4 Tests, 8 wkts, ave: 54.75; 214 first-class matches, 373 wkts, ave: 31.91
A return to Test cricket last summer proved tough on a lifeless pitch at Old Trafford, but he remains a hugely experienced operator and many regard him as the best English spinner in the county game. One-year England contract.

James Coles Sussex, aged 22; 50 first-class matches, 57 wkts @46.61
Highly rated all-rounder with his sights firmly set on playing Test cricket; he did not enter the IPL auction because he wants to focus on red-ball cricket for the next two months. Will work with Swann when he joins his new franchise London Spirit, who bought him for £390,000.

Tom Hartley Lancashire, aged 26; 5 Tests, 22 wkts, ave: 36.13; 41 first-class matches, 97 wkts, ave: 38.48
Returned the best figures by an England spinner this century when he took seven for 62 to win the Hyderabad Test in 2024. Bowled well for the Lions in Australia last winter. 

Right-arm leg breaks and googlies 

Rehan Ahmed Leicestershire, aged 21; 5 Tests, 22 wkts, ave: 31.22; 36 first-class matches, 78 wkts, ave: 37.15
His 760 runs and 23 wickets last year helped Leicestershire gain promotion to the first division, where tougher challenges now await. Unlikely to be England’s sole specialist spinner but could add great value as a support act. One-year England contract.

Calvin Harrison Northants, aged 27; 31 first-class matches, 80 wkts, ave: 33.81
A move from Nottinghamshire to Northamptonshire could prove crucial as head coach Darren Lehmann knows how to deploy spin. “Calvin’s very talented and could now go from first gear to fifth. Look out of for him,” Swann says. Extracts useful bounce from a 6ft 4in frame.