Not bad but not pressing for a place in the Test team surely?De Silva salvaged what little Sri Lankan pride was intact with

Not bad, but not pressing for a place in the Test team, surely?De Silva salvaged what little Sri Lankan pride was intact with three sixes and two fours in his 54 not out, but Sri Lanka were 199 behind when the MCC batted again to bring to a desultory end an unsatisfactory affair on a verdant ground that had no favours from the weather.Sri Lanka are hard to interpret. They looked hopelessly out of touch, but this does not mean that they won’t score plenty of runs on a good Old Trafford wicket, or that their bowling will be quite so tame.. It is an abiding anxiety. Unfortunately, it is now entering at least its third decade and there is little indication of much easing. The question is, as so often in the recent past: whither English spin bowling? The answer, in this wet summer of all summers, is probably up the creek without a paddle, let alone a wrist or a finger worthy of the job.

With all due respect to the admirable incumbent, Ashley Giles, and his presumed understudy, Richard Dawson, who is only 21 and wise beyond his years, England lack a match-winning, opposition-worrying spinner Often have, always will at this rate

It is an abiding anxiety. Often have, always will at this rate.
There are many reasons. Pitches built for seamers conspire with an unwillingness to allow young spinners time to develop, and lead to a reluctance to practise the skill, allied to which too many coaches know too little about the subject. The upshot is grimly inevitable.Present good intentions might one day prevail, yet then along comes a season like this. Damp conditions and moist pitches militate against spin bowling. Who would throw the ball to any of them and suggest they win the game? The Met Office say that this will be the wettest summer for decades, which may not therefore even allow for two months of decent spinning time towards its end.It is not, it really is not, for the want of trying. For a long while, too long we know now, it was a neglected art.

Lip service was paid intermittently to spin but nobody was dashing about sending emails on the subject Eventually, the mistake was realised. All over the world, top-flight twirlers emerged: Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble. The England and Wales Cricket Board’s men are now rushing around with the zeal of the converted.Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, is quite frank about it. Unless and until they unearth a bowler of genuinely high pace or a spinner with a bit of mystery, England will not win consistently, regularly and convincingly because they will struggle to bowl out the opposition twice often enough.