'Spinners under pressure'

Spin legend Shane Warne says there is a “problem” with the way young Australian spinners are “handled” at the domestic level and stresses on the importance of putting more emphasis on aggressive bowling.

“The problem lies in what we expect from our young spin bowlers and the way they are handled at domestic level by their captains and coaches,” Warne said. “The attitude should always be about taking wickets and not about economy rates: 4/100 off 25 overs is a good result and better than 2/60 off 25 overs,” he added.

Warne said it is not easy to be a wicket-taking bowler and an economical one at the same time. “I believe the expectations are too high and the young spinners are put under a lot of pressure to be both attacking wicket takers as well as tight economical bowlers, which is very hard to do,” he was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNcricinfo’.

“My guidelines on what to look for in a young spinner is pretty simple; someone who can spin the ball. Any fast bowler that can swing or make the ball move has a chance to take wickets; if they bowl straight they will struggle. The same criteria applies for spin bowling.”

He also felt that the advent of Twenty20 cricket, to go with the 50-over format, are a “hindrance” in the growth of young spinners.