TRENDS
Follow UsWhat connects Ashton Agar, Tom Hartley, Bjorn Fortuin, Rachin Ravindra and Imad Wasim?
Of course, they are all left-arm spinners. But more importantly, they are all left-arm spinners who have either been recalled or being included in the squad for the first time. Surely, it is no coincidence, right?
There could be at least four teams from the top 11 that could feature at least two spinners in their setup. While it has always been known that the conditions in the Caribbean could favour the tweakers, why left-arm spin?
Why specifically that trade?
Decoded: Why left-arm spin and not others?
In the last two years, 35 spinners (318 wickets) have picked up at least one wicket at the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the franchise competition in the West Indies.
Out of that, 14 are left-arm spinners, with 128 wickets (40% of all spin wickets) between them, averaging 32. But the interesting part about all that is not just the wickets but also the restrictive scoring rate (7.92 ER).
It is no surprise that the joint-most wicket-taker in the competition has been a left-arm spinner - Imad Wasim - with 31 wickets over two seasons, averaging 17.7.
While the off-spinners have been effective (112) wickets, it also includes three mystery spinners, in the form of Sunil Narine, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Sikandar Raza. If you remove the three, the off-spinners have been good but have only picked 74 wickets.
How do you use your left-arm spinner?
By phase
Across two seasons of CPL, the left-arm spinners have struck 128 times, averaging 32. In 2023 alone, the left-arm spinners struck 64 times, averaging 28.6. What makes it interesting is that they have bowled quite a lot in the powerplay over the last two years.
The average run-scoring pattern across the two seasons in the powerplay is 7.3 runs/over. Correspondingly, the left-arm spinners average 30.4 and concede runs at only 7.6 an over, just slightly higher than the scoring rate. But those 33 wickets have helped the teams set the tone.
Come to the middle overs (when the field is spread); the left-arm spinners have struck 69 times, averaging 24.3, with 40.1 dot ball %. Even if you look at the economy rate, it is only at seven, showing how mightily effective they are in the middle overs phase.
It is almost like the conditions in the Caribbean are tailor-made for the left-arm spinners in the middle-over phase.
At the death too, left-arm spinners have bowled 49.3 overs, averaging 20.3, with 26 wickets. While the wickets help, the economy rate is 10.7. Hence, the best use of them has been either in the first six overs or during the middle overs, where the open field setup allows you to maximise.
By pace
What kind of left-arm spinners have been effective in the Caribbean?
If you look at the best five left-arm spinners in the last two editions of CPL, the average pace for them is 91.6 kmph. Wasim is the only spinner from that list who has bowled more than the average pace, bowling slightly quicker at 93.2 kmph, with 31 wickets.
So, what’s the pace with which you have to operate?
From whatever data is available, left-arm spinners have found great success when they have bowled at a pace between 80-90 kmph, with most wickets.
In that pace range, the left-arm spinners have picked up more wickets against the right-handed batters (17) compared to the left-handed batters (7), but the catch is that they average 33 with the ball.
More wickets, but the average is on the high end. Not just that, the economy rate too is at 7.8.
Please Note: From whatever ball-by-ball data available in CPL
However, when bowled at a quicker pace (90-100 kmph), the left-arm spinners only average 26, with the economy rate too undergoing a dip, falling to 6.8, with 21 wickets. The sweet spot for any left-arm spinner who is targeting that pace range is 94.6, something that has worked well at the CPL.
Very few left-arm spinners have bowled at more than 100 kmph, but the success has been there, with six wickets, averaging 20.3. It could indicate that more spinners would be targeting to dart the ball and keep their average pace at least 90+ kmph come the global event.
What kind of spinners are there at this year’s competition?
Looking at all this data, you must be wondering what kind of spinners are at this year’s competition and what their pace ranges are likely to be.
The quickest spinner at this year’s competition would be Ravindra Jadeja, who, in the last two years (T20s), averages 99 kmph. The closest to the Indian spinner is England’s Tom Hartley, who also averages 97 kmph.
11 players average in the 90 kmph range.
Only two spinners - Shakib Al Hasan and Dunith Wellalage - average less than 90 kmph. Another fascinating aspect of the speed range is that the average slower balls of these selected lot of spinners are at 76 kmph.
Amongst the lot, only one spinner, Ashton Agar, has his slowest ball at 65.7 kmph.
By length
Please Note: The above table is a representation of all the wickets by LAO in CPL since 2022 (by lines)
Now that speed and type of bowling seem to be solved, what kind of lengths should the left-arm spinners target? If you look at the above pitch map region, it is evident that they should be looking at the fuller length right around the off-stump in the 4-6m length.
In those two boxes, the left-arm spinners picked up 37 wickets in the last two editions of the CPL, and it is certainly an area that the others will be looking at closely before the global event. Interestingly, it is also an area where most left-arm spinners at the T20 World Cup already specialise.
"They [pitches in West Indies] can be slower and they're going to turn a bit. I don't think they're going to be as compact as they are here. I've played a lot of cricket over there and played in the CPL. The wickets tend to get a little bit lower and slower,” David Warner said ahead of the global event.
Considering all of these factors, this World Cup could be huge for the left-arm spinners.
But there’s one catch with these data points - the International Cricket Council (ICC) will be curating the pitches. However, that said, there won’t be a drastic difference from the conditions that are normally in play.
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