It’d be challenging yet intriguing contest: Ian Bell

SURAT: England’s batters have consistently struggled against spin bowling and, in recent times, have become known as a team vulnerable to being undone by quality spinners.

This fragility was on display in the recently concluded series against Australia, where England lost several wickets to part-time spinners like Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne.

When compared to other top teams, England has the lowest batting average against spin—a concerning statistic. With a tour of Pakistan in a few weeks and a challenging series in India in January next year, addressing the issues against spin will be a priority in the English dressing room as they look to refine their strategy against tweakers.

Speaking to DT Next on the sidelines of the Legends Cricket League, former England batter Ian Bell acknowledged that English batters tend to find it challenging on pitches that turn.

With England set to tour India in January next year for five T20Is and three ODIs, Bell believes this will pose a stern test for the English batters, given India’s spin-friendly tracks and its formidable spinners such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.

“These are match-winners and can turn the complexion of a game with their bowling,” said Bell. He also vouched for Joe Root, who was rested during the recently concluded ODI series against Australia.

“Joe’s probably one of the best players of spin we’ve ever had. There is scope for improvement, and there’s also Jamie Smith, a very fine young English batter with good footwork against spin,” Bell added.

Bell believes it’s not fair to blame the current crop of English batters for its struggles against spin. In the recent series against Australia, they averaged just 24.43 against spin.

He feels the problem lies in the lack of sufficient exposure that English players get to pitches that turn. “It is always a problem for young English players when it comes to turning pitches.

You grow up on English wickets and suddenly, when put against world-class spinners, it gets difficult.”

He stressed the need for the English cricket set-up to invest more in developing players with exposure to turning tracks.

“The English set-up needs to start exposing young players to tracks that turn, but I think the work is in progress, and they should be ready in the coming years.”

India defeated England in a five-match Test series and the T20 World Cup semi-final earlier this year. Looking ahead to England’s upcoming tour of India, Bell anticipates a challenging yet intriguing contest.

“It’d certainly be an interesting contest. The challenge of Ashwin, Jadeja, and Axar would be really hard, but there is an opportunity. We have a lot of young players, and I think they can definitely step up and make a difference.”

England’s top-order woes continue, as opener Phil Salt managed only 95 runs in five innings against Australia. When asked whether Salt should make way for Will Jacks, allowing Root to return to his natural number three spot, Bell said, “Phil’s been brilliant in T20 cricket, and most of the players haven’t had much experience in 50-over matches recently.

If you’re considering bringing in Jacks along with Jos Buttler and Root, I think it’s a good problem to have. England needs a lot of white-ball depth across all positions right now, and having these options available will be good. It allows for some tweaks to the line-up as needed.”