Test cricket is really, really hard. Ask Scott Muller or Darren Pattinson. Bowling spin in Test cricket is one of the hardest things of all in the sport: ask Bryce McGain or Simon Kerrigan. And Moeen Ali, the man currently employed to do that job for England, is struggling. Since the start of 2015, he has taken 12 wickets at an average of 48.25. With an Ashes series looming, and a brutal Australian batting line-up preparing to mount a serious attempt to claim their first Ashes win in England since 2001, things couldn’t look grimmer for England. One might long for the days when they could prepare turning tracks for Graeme Swann, but they are gone; he is gone.
At the end of last summer, Moeen Ali had a better Test bowling average than Saeed Ajmal, Nathan Lyon and Rangana Herath. In his first two Tests, he had claimed the wicket of a stonkingly in-form Kumar Sangakkara, twice. He had also scored a near-match-saving century at Headingley. As debut summers go, it was pretty good.
And yet his place is a major talking point. He hasn’t been able to build pressure, threaten settled batsmen, or nip out tailenders. The question becomes whether there is anybody in county cricket who could do the job any better?
One area of criticism has been that England are picking Moeen as much for his batting; that he is a batsman who bowls, and that he is keeping an out-and-out spinner from the side. He is certainly a glorious batsman who can time the ball as well as anyone in England. His batting should be viewed as an asset rather than a liability, but for the purposes of this article, we shall just consider the bowling.
“The spin cupboard is bare” is a common complaint in English cricket. Of the current group of county spinners, here are a few names that crop up: James Tredwell, Adil Rashid, Simon Kerrigan, Zafar Ansari, Scott Borthwick, Adam Riley. Outside candidates include Danny Briggs and Ravi Patel. Former England Test spinner Monty Panesar is understood to be unwell.
If Moeen is going to be dropped, England need to have an alternative – it is not good enough to simply say “replace him with a spinner”. James Tredwell bowled reasonably well in the one Test he played in the West Indies, claiming match figures of 5-140. He lacked penetration in the second innings, which arguably cost England a win. He has played one County Championship match since then, and took no wickets for 94.
Adil Rashid was unlucky not to receive a Test cap in the Caribbean, but it would be a big risk to throw him into the side to face Australia. Rashid can be a dominator, but he can be very expensive when he struggles for confidence. David Warner, Steve Smith and Shane Watson have the broken self-esteems of many spinners in their trophy cabinets, and although Rashid is the best of the alternatives, the Australians would probably rather see him than Moeen on the teamsheet come the first Test.
Scott Borthwick has enjoyed a good start to the season for Durham, but with the bat and not the ball: he has 514 runs at an average of 51, and just two wickets at an average of 89. It would be hard to justify his selection for a bowling role on this evidence.
Simon Kerrigan apparently doesn’t feel ready for a Test return, and Australia would be the worst opponents to face in his comeback: his 48 balls in Test cricket yielded 53 runs, and Shane Watson was particularly devastating. Kerrigan remains one of the few English spinners with a bowling average under 30, and he will no doubt play for England again. However, the time may not yet be right: he bowled 21 deliveries to Jason Roy in Surrey’s first innings, and went for 36 runs. A rampant Australian batting line-up would be a daunting prospect for any bowler, but given the circumstances we shall have to rule Kerrigan out for now.
At the time of writing, Zafar Ansari has a bowling average of 31 in the County Championship this year, considerably better than his career average of 37. He made a name for himself by dismissing Kevin Pietersen for 30 in a University match in 2011. Ansari makes it into the Surrey team for his studious batsmanship as much as for his bowling, though. He is undoubtedly an exciting prospect, but asking a 23-year-old to debut against Australia is a gamble with deeply unpromising odds.
Adam Riley is also 23, and has a bowling average of 78 after five County Championship matches in division two this season. The bandwagon selection of last summer, who received the backing of Andrew Strauss among others, appears to have gone backwards. This happens in young spinners, and is nothing to panic about; but it does mean that he shouldn’t be in the frame for the Ashes.
Like it or not, there isn’t a better option out there than Moeen. Playing another fast bowler would be overkill, and while Joe Root’s spin is reasonable, he is far from being ready to bowl long spells against top-class batsmen. Moeen has shown the capacity to adapt and improve before. While it is possible to argue that India weren’t in top form when Moeen ran through them in 2014, they are still excellent players of spin and he bowled to them with accuracy and aggression.
Like it or not, there is nobody who would do a much better job than Moeen in county cricket. If he is a complete liability in the first two Tests, perhaps Adil Rashid will come into the picture – but for now, he is the best England have got, and they need to stick with him.
