Come in Spinner

Will Warney answer the call?

Australian cricket may soon see the comeback of the greatest spin bowler ever and one of the greatest players ever in Shane Warne. Of course Warney has been around the Twenty20 circuit but he is long retired from the long form of the game and is 43 years old. The thing is if he came back he would be not only the best spinner we have, but probably add a lot of value helping Michael Clarke as a sort of de-facto captain.

When Warne retired from Test cricket it became clear that he was the man doing a lot of the field setting and such, as without him Ricky Ponting’s flaws as a captain became more and more apparent. Ignoring the bowling benefits, simply having Warne field in the slips and mentoring Clarke may very well improve his captaining skills.

Of course the biggest benefit would be the return of a legendary bowler. Whilst we would obviously need to see how he went at club and/or state level first (from both a form and a selection policy perspective), I think most people suspect Warne would quickly become our leading spin option. Despite his age, his bowling style is one conducive to longevity in terms of his short run up, not to mention Warne looks to be and by all accounts is in the best shape of his life.

Whether that translates on the pitch is another story, but I’d love to see him try.

This raises a bigger question though. What does it say about Australian cricket at the moment that most people, including the current captain of the team, expect a retired 43 year old player to be able to easily get back into the team should he so choose?

Nathan Lyon is not a bad bowler by any means, but at this point doesn’t seem like a world class spinner either. There were some definite positive signs from our bowling attack in the South Africa series and we played the Third Test with an entirely new fast bowling attack. Assuming they can get and stay fit, James Pattinson and Pat Cummins, along with Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle could form a dynamic fast bowling core. That’s not to mention Ben Hilfenhaus, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson and others like Doug Bollinger.

The spin option however still seems to be a bit of a concern. Michael Clarke says that Warne would be a great mentor for Nathan Lyon and that is definitely true, but it shows little faith in Lyon’s current ability to drop him for a retired guy. How long is Warne expected to play for if he returns? Simply for the Ashes and then leave again?

It actually surprises me that Australia is struggling so much to find a spinner these days. I remember during Warne’s heyday every kid wanted to copy him and become a spinner. Much like how so many kids wanted to be Michael Jordan in the USA (hell it was considered a problem in American basketball that too many kids were trying to play ‘Like Mike’), kids here wanted to be Shane Warne, so I would have thought there would be more spin options than before if anything.

Sadly that’s not the case. Nathan Lyon is a good bowler but not a great one and is not being challenged and pushed by any of the other spinners going around at state level. Therefore we turn back the clock and hope Warne’s return will at least provide a stop-gap until Lyon or someone else is ready to be the world class spinner we need.

It’s a prospect to both drool over and consider an indictment of the current state of affairs, but as long as we get to see Warney roll the arm over again I’m all for it.