The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘Twenty20 not for spinners’

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Friday, Sep 21, 2007
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Sport - Cricket

‘Twenty20 not for spinners’

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Terry Jenner, widely known as Shane Warne’s bowling mentor and in the city as a consultant with the MAC Spin Foundation, spoke of the danger the Twenty20 format posed to young, developing spinners.

“Why don’t they just wheel out a bowling machine and let the batsmen entertain the crowd?” asked Jenner.

“What role does a bowler have? Why should he be so brought down to his knees? There’s no development factor in the format. You’ll have to separate the limited-overs cricket on television from the one run in schools by increasing the overs and extending the boundaries so the young spinners aren’t affected.”

Jenner, who worked with the wards at the Spin Foundation for five days, said his primary focus was on the boys discovering spin.

“I felt my CV wasn’t complete without visiting the sub-continent with its great culture and history of spinners. So when I was given a chance to work with the MAC Spin Foundation, I didn’t care that I had to walk through the Singapore airport for 15 hours,” said Jenner.

“I jumped at the opportunity, and once here, I realised, as expected, that the boys had a lot of the curly-whirlies with their fingers. There was talent, but they were probably complicating it a little. I looked to simplify their methods. Also, they were bowling for others. The limited-overs version is producing dot-ball bowlers. Shane Warne would have never made the under-19 side the way spinners are expected to bowl these days. Captains want them to fire it in. But, as the great Bishen Bedi said, ‘Spin is in the air and break is off the wicket’.”

On India’s Piyush Chawla, Jenner said, “The best compliment I can pay him is that I turn the TV on when he’s bowling. He’s got ticker, he’s got heart. But, he needs to bowl leg-break after leg-break after leg-break to develop as a Test bowler. Bowling a googly well gives you a high like you cannot believe, and Chawla does that, but he risks losing the leg-break if he bowls it (the googly) every other ball.”

The Spin Foundation is looking to make Jenner’s consultancy long-term.

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