I've seen some weak bowling attacks in my time but this one is taking the piss. Comparing the two teams attacks, it does look unfair.
100% this. Would have grumbled at this selection in a dead rubber against Sri Lanka - not this Lions Den.
It's fine, we need to take these crazy decisions as part of bazball (see also: ashes decleration obvs).
But its still quite a jarring surprise (once again) to realise quite how far below standard our spinners are when they get called up and actually have a go in 'big boys' cricket. This is the cream of the county game, usually heralded with some flattering statistic (and even then its quite meagre), and they are rank awful against any side (along with an unpreparedness or sense of surprise that the oppo will go fully after these novices). At least with the quicks, I think they have a much less 'failure' rate when the next big thing gets called up to the side.
And, lets call it how it is, Headingly was wonderful etc, but the normalisation of Jack Leach as a bona fide International pick does not help.
Also I've said it before and I'll say it again...Spin bowling shouldn't be a scarce skill. It doesnt require twitch fibres or a certain genetic make up...Its just a case of finding enough people willing to do the hours in training, and skilled people to train them. In the last 20 years British sport has used lottery money and really quite excellent (and uncharacteristically) great elite sports coaching, and produced much more genuinely miraculous achievements: Wimbledon winner, Tour de France. Surely we cab build a spinner that could make the world's top 100 (I reckon there are at least 250 spinners better than these 3)
(a cultural disposition to cherish it doesn't hurt - my apocryphal memory/ understanding is that, in my cricket teams, our Asian
batsmen can spin the ball for fun...Like its not even remotely something they rate, and they lob them down as if they're goofing around or want to take a breather from running in the statutory net medium pace, but they're producing turn that is almost comedic (because the British 'dedicated' spinners get nothing out of the matting lol)