Warning From Spin Wizard Shane Warne

The 50-year-old legend feels ‘drop-in pitches’ are hampering the growth of spinners

Agencies | Melbourne | Published 23.05.20, 10:57 PM

Shane Warne believes Cricket Australia should force the states to pick a spinner in every first-class game to improve the quality of spin bowling, which, he said, is currently “going downhill fast” due to the increase in drop-in wickets.

“A spinner should play every single game, no matter what the conditions are like, so that particular spinners can learn how to bowl on Day I or Day IV.

“At the moment, they (states) only pick them when the conditions suit,” Warne was quoted as saying by The West Australian.

“How are they going to learn if you don’t allow them to play state cricket? There has to be a responsibility on the states to pick one specialist spinner in every game. And if they don’t, well, maybe Cricket Australia (CA) has to step in.

“Otherwise, spin bowling will go downhill, and is going downhill fast.”

Warne, one of the greatest leg-spinners the game has produced, said there is a dearth of quality spinners who can fill the shoes of Nathan Lyon and urged CA to ensure that states include a spinner in every Sheffield Shield game.

“Nathan Lyon is one of the best spinners in the world and we’re so lucky to have a great spinner like him. If something happened to him, we’ve got a spinner with very little first-class experience that could be up against some of the best in the world of spin,” Warne said. “We have some good spinners in Australia, but they’re not getting the opportunities. CA should maybe put some pressure on the states and

say, ‘You have to pick one specialist spinner in your team every time’.”

The 50-year-old believes increase in drop-in pitches is making the conditions almost similar, thus affecting the growth of a spinner. “Once upon a time, every state had completely different conditions. Now, there are a lot of drop-in (pitches). We’ve got to be careful it’s not too much of the same,” he said.