Of the current England Test players who preferred the opening round of the County Championship to soaking up sun in the Costa del Sol or lucre in the Indian Premier League, only Ben Foakes had a decent day, while Rehan Ahmed had one shocker of an over.
Ahmed, being only 18, could hardly be expected to know better, but his elders should have told him that April in England belongs to medium-pacers. It is distinctly the cruellest month for wrist spinners. Given one over for Leicestershire, Ahmed was hammered for 22 by Yorkshire’s almost-as-young opener Finlay Bean, although he came back with three quiet overs before the close.
A spinner’s fingers at this time of year have not warmed up. Neither has the sun, so the pitch is too slow and there is no wear and tear on the velvety green surface. There is nothing of what the late Shane Warne called “the spinner’s greatest ally” – natural variation.
How the horror over unfolded
Ahmed was tossed the ball for the 20th over of the season at the chastened ground that is Headingley. He appeared to have been given little more than a moment’s notice, so he was thrust into the breach with minimal time to warm up, and with a very short boundary to one side. His first ball was a slow full toss that Bean pulled for four and, as it was so high that it was no-balled as well, that counted six. Ahmed’s next ball was another slow full toss which the left-handed Bean pulled for four, accelerating past 50 which he turned into a maiden first-class hundred after a mid-afternoon break for rain, and 118 off 149 balls in all.
Warming up at last, Ahmed followed through properly for the rest of his over but damage to his confidence had already been done: one legitimate ball of this season bowled and 10 runs gone. His second ball was pushed for nothing; his third, over-pitched, driven straight for four by Bean; his fourth and fifth were placed square on the offside for two runs apiece; and the last was a short ball which Bean was quick to pull to the short boundary.
No wonder Yorkshire in all their history have selected only two specialist leg-spinners, Eddie Leadbeater in the Fifties, when the Championship did not begin until May, and Adil Rashid.
Wrist spinners in particular then had not been driven to the verge of extinction, as now. Captains were readier to take risks, and entertain, rather than grind away with seamers and finger-spinners. In several Tests in the late Forties England played two leg-spinners, while in the Oval Test of 1949 they chose three – two specialists in Eric Hollies and Doug Wright, and an all-rounder who was also captain in Freddie Brown – to try to defeat a defensive New Zealand in a match limited to three days.
England batsmen suffer mixed fortunes
Ollie Pope, meanwhile, made 13 for Surrey against Lancashire, and Ben Duckett 24 as an opener for Nottinghamshire, while Foakes scored 76 in almost four hours for Surrey. Foakes rallied the county champions after they had been sent in and lost four early wickets, including Dom Sibley on his return from Warwickshire.
Zak Crawley was prevented from having an innings by rain rather than by Northamptonshire, who, after being sent in on a pitch which nipped and nibbled, crumbled to 89 for seven between the showers. Kent seamer Grant Stewart took a stunning return catch by his ankles after Josh Cobb had middled his straight drive.
Although it is an opening game, out of 14, the Kent versus Northants match could be a decisive one as it has been advertised as a bottom-of-the-table clash. The county who lose this encounter will be well placed for demotion.
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