Caught in the spin cycle

Through no fault of his own, Ashley Giles epitomises England's stopgap attitude to spin bowling © Getty Images

At a charity dinner last September, Ian Botham referred to Shane Warne's 600 Test wickets as "not bad for a step-and-fetch-it bowler".

The Beefy tongue was firmly in well-oiled cheek but these were still true words spoken in jest. There is a cultural problem with spin bowling in English cricket and has been for years.

You can talk all you like about unhelpful pitches in county cricket but that is a red herring. Quality overseas spinners still take wickets on English pitches. No, this malaise is the result of a safety-first, conservative attitude that used to pervade so much of the English game. In many areas it has been eradicated.

But spinners are not trusted and are victims of double standards. It is only a few short years ago that Steve Harmison was regarded as flaky and erratic but with match-winning potential. He's not much of a batsman or a fielder but he was picked, backed and now he's one of the world's leading bowlers.

Why should English spinners be expected to be bat and field better than their spear-throwing counterparts? Why should their economy rates be scrutinised and tut-tutted at while express bowlers are indulged until such point as they grow into their bodies and learn Test-standard control.

Ashley Giles's role as a stopgap in the England team is a symptom not a cause of this attitude. The Giles gameplan, which so offends the purists and the romantics, is pragmatism. And by and large it has worked. But can England be the world's best Test side without a world-class spinner? South Africa never managed it.

But even if the answer is no, it doesn't mean that England should fling the latest young spinner (in this case Northamptonshire's Monty Panesar) to the lions (in this case India) just to assuage our guilt at not having produced a world-class spinner since Derek Underwood, who last played more than 20 years ago.

England have been here before with Chris Schofield, the Lancashire legspinner, who was given a central contract in 2000 because of England's unhealthy obsession with producing a Pommie Shane Warne. He played two Tests and is now out of first-class cricket altogether. In other words, his fast-tracking was so speedy and unwarranted that it effectively killed his career.

Jason Brown, also of Northants, went to Sri Lanka in 2000-01, carried the drinks, never played a Test and has never been considered seriously since.

Panesar has 107 first-class wickets at 28, which is very promising. He has long, strong fingers and a burning desire to emulate his hero Bishan Bedi. These are all good things but he hasn't yet played a full season of county cricket because he has been at university.

Panesar should go on England's A tour to the West Indies, get plenty of bowling and then get a regular spot in the Northamptonshire side. He needs to bowl in all conditions, be backed by his captain and have the chance to make his own mistakes, not pressured into bowling defensively. He should not play one-day cricket.

Terry Jenner, who knows a thing or two about these step-and-fetch-it bowlers, says spinners "patience, understanding and a greater show of faith". English cricket should heed his advice.