/ 16 February 2007

No need to get into a spin

It was clear, by the time South Africa annihilated Pakistan at Newlands in the fourth one-dayer last week, that the Proteas will attempt to win the World Cup next month without a spinner. Robin Peterson is travelling to the Caribbean, and he might even get a game, perhaps against Holland. But there is almost no doubt now that spin, as a strategic option for the West Indian showpiece, is off the table.

It was clear, by the time South Africa annihilated Pakistan at Newlands in the fourth one-dayer last week, that the Proteas will attempt to win the World Cup next month without a spinner. Robin Peterson is travelling to the Caribbean, and he might even get a game, perhaps against Holland. But there is almost no doubt now that spin, as a strategic option for the West Indian showpiece, is off the table.

Supporters of Peterson will rightly point out that he has rarely been given an extended run in the one-day squad, and that when he has played more than half a dozen games in a season, he has done a more than adequate job of restricting runs and nipping out the odd wicket.

His critics will simply point to the first game of the series just ended.

At Centurion, Peterson stood out, cruelly exposed by his rampant teammates. Despite bowling all his overs with the game effectively won, luxuriating in having a slip and silly point, he looked the picture of mediocrity.

One could argue that the tail-enders he seemed so impotent against had nothing to lose, and felt none of the pressure he was trying to impose; but, nonetheless, the sight of him tossing the ball up to Mohammad Sami, trying to buy a rabbit’s wicket, was a little worrying.

But only a little. South Africa’s eternal quest for spin continues, despite the happy arrival of the interesting Paul Harris. But it is a journey almost entirely directed towards building a good Test side. One-day cricket, by contrast, is the province of pace: eight of the 10 bowlers currently rated the best in one-day cricket are fast or medium-fast.

The two who aren’t are Muttiah Muralitharan — a freak of nature — and Anil Kumble, a slow bowler in name only, as many a batsman undone by his brisk, non-breaking leg breaks will confirm.

Indeed, after the Cape Town massacre of the depleted and derailed Pakistan, it emerged that South Africa were now a whisker away from replacing Australia as the world’s top one-day team — the ultimate proof, one might suggest, that it is possible to be serious World Cup contenders without ever coming close to unearthing a match-winning slow bowler.

Which is not to say that most captains in the Caribbean wouldn’t love to field a naggingly slow and skiddy bowler like Chris Gayle — the bowling reincarnation of Carl Hooper — given the subdued pitches likely to be on display in March and April.

But if form and favour don’t give them one, they need not abandon hope: scuffed balls, fingers held across the seam, and unglamorous control over the basics of bowling will do the job just as well.

A lack of glamour and a firm grip on those basics saw England trudge to an historic if faintly utilitarian series win over the world champions last weekend.

But the triumph, though deeply satisfying for all of us who have longed to see the Australians turned into prey at their annual fish-shooting jamboree, will not have sent bookies screaming for their calculators.

England have recovered some pride, but cannot yet be considered a World Cup threat: they remain a poor one-day team, getting by on individual passion. Without the stick and carrot of avoiding total humiliation and beating their long-time tormentors, they will almost certainly be back to their humdrum ways.