Murali attacks me

A recent cricinfo piece quotes Muttiah Muralitharan saying, due to the use of power plays, spinners will struggle in the World Cup.

"The rules have changed now with the 20-over power plays coming so the spinners go out of the game, you can't play two or three spinners any more," he said. "We have only one spinner at the moment so fast bowlers have more chance [of success] because they bowl in the power play."

Obviously, this is a defeatist point of view, and one that also could be characterised as “wrong”. Especially considering my own air-tight argument, made elsewhere.

Once you accept that spinners are easy slog-fodder for the batsman, then all is lost. In fact, spin bowling has many weapons against sloggers. Variety, spin and flight are key tools in the spinner’s arsenal to confuse pinch-hitters.

Moreover, unlike fast bowlers, batsmen actually have to generate their own pace onto the ball to hit big: they cannot deflect a spinner for six. Batsmen have to come after the bowler, immediately making him more vulnerable. 20-over power plays, therefore, are a key attacking opportunity for the spinner.