England v India: How the hosts have used the Merlyn bowling machine to get to grips with spin bowling | City A.M.
The recent break in the weather has brought an abrupt end to the heatwave in this country, but with India in town and more hot, dry days forecast, England know one factor may go a long way towards deciding the centrepiece of the cricketing summer.
While Edgbaston, the venue for Wednesday’s first Test, isn’t renowned for assisting spinners, the fact the final two matches will be played at the Ageas Bowl and the Oval, perhaps following a second spell of dry weather, means spin could play a massive part in deciding the series.
“If there’s a bit of help for our spinners then I am sure we will be in a position in the series to hurt them,” said former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar last week. “That will be a critical factor.”
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As ever, India have a reputation which precedes them. The world’s No1 Test side not only boast a formidable batting line-up, which features arguably the best player in the world in captain Virat Kohli, they also play to their traditional strength of spin.
England may have James Anderson – the top-ranked Test bowler in the world with 540 Test wickets to his name, who is perfectly suited to home conditions – but India can call upon expertise of their own.
In left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin the tourists have the third and fifth best Test bowlers in the world, according to the International Cricket Council rankings. Of active spinners only Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath has taken more Test wickets than Ashwin’s 316 at an average of 25.34 a piece.
Need more convincing? The all-time top wicket taker in Test cricket, Muttiah Muralidaran, described Ashwin as “definitely the best spinner in the world” in November.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav are two of India’s spin bowling weapons (Source: Getty)
When you throw into the mix the possibility of left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav featuring as well, the difficulties become clear for England.
With such an array of threats to face, England certainly won’t be going into the series blind. The majority of players will have faced Jadeja, Ashwin and Kuldeep before, while the preceding one-day and Twenty20 series have helped batsmen acclimatise further.
Acclimatise is exactly what England did with Kuldeep. The 23-year-old began the tour with career-best figures of 5-24 in the opening Twenty20 at Old Trafford on 3 July, before taking an equally impressive 6-25 in the opening one-day international at Trent Bridge nine days later.
In short, the left-arm wrist-spinner had England’s batsmen on toast. He picked up Test captain Joe Root twice in just three balls.
Yet following Kuldeep’s six wicket-haul England – and in particular Root – worked hard to improve how they played him. And they did a good job: Root scored consecutive unbeaten hundreds as the hosts came from behind to nullify his threat, turn things around and win the final two ODIs to take the series 2-1.
While there were other factors in the victories – notably contributions from England seamers David Willey and Liam Plunkett and spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali – the improvement in batting against spin can be linked to one thing.
Kuldeep Yadav showed his effectiveness during the shorter format series (Source: Getty)
“Left-arm wrist-spinners seem quite hard to come by,” England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler explained after the Old Trafford Twenty20. “One thing we can do is with Merlyn, to replicate the angle. It’s a very good machine to get used to that.”
The Merlyn to which Buttler refers isn’t a wizard, but a specialist bowling machine which puts spin on the ball around the direction of travel to create drift and turn – just as spinners do.
It is laser-sighted and adjustable to a third of a degree, meaning England’s players can practise batting against specific types of spin, as Nye Williams, managing director of Merlyn-makers BOLA Manufacturing, explains.
“If you want to practise against a ball which drifts one way and then turns the other there’s no other way of getting it, unless you can find a bowler who can do it,” he says.
That’s exactly what England’s batsmen did in the nets at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens ahead of the second Twenty20 on 6 July.
“England often look in the toolbox when flaws are exposed,” Williams adds. “Why were there stories about them getting the Merlyn machine out? Because I don’t think they had been using it quite so much of late.”
Following the success of its use, Trevor Bayliss’s side have surely learned their lesson, and they won’t struggle to locate a Merlyn machine.
Since 2009 there have been 20 dotted around the country at each first-class county as well as the Loughborough national performance centre – some of which have bowled bowled 300,000 to 400,000 balls each, according to Williams.
The original invention came from Henry Pryor, who received attention ahead of the 2005 Ashes as England used the prototype while looking for a way to play Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.
England have used the Merlyn bowling machine in various guises since 2005 (Source: Getty)
BOLA has licensed his invention and worked on it to the point where it can be used by England to combat India’s arsenal of spin.
Coach Paul Farbrace, who was on bowling machine duty in Cardiff earlier this month, can set up Merlyn to bowl off-breaks like Ashwin, left-arm orthodox deliveries like Jadeja or the more niche left-arm wrist-spin of Kuldeep.
Although surprises are still likely as all three are capable of using subtle changes of pace, flight and spin, Merlyn offers England’s batsmen the best chance of being prepared in a country with a much-discussed dearth of quality spinners.
“Bowlers often don’t want to be used as net bowlers,” says Williams, which means quality orthodox spinners are hard enough to find – let alone specialists.
Buttler, who by playing in the Indian Premier League has been exposed to a wide variety of spin bowling, is a particular proponent of practising using Merlyn. Judging by his recent purple patch, others may be keen to follow his advice.
“It’s now down to the guys to gain an understanding,” Buttler said of Kuldeep earlier this month. “You see it a lot in international cricket that guys burst on to the scene and then people get a handle on them. It’s [about] getting used to the angle as wrist-spin is usually right-arm.”
England fans will be hoping that through hours in the nets using Merlyn, the bowling machine has worked its magic and helped all batsmen get a handle on India’s dangerous spinners.