England exposed by spin shortcomings

When the dust settles on what looks likely to be a series defeat for Alastair Cook's side in the United Arab Emirates, the bigwigs at the England and Wales Cricket Board might want to ask themselves what more they could have done.

For England's inability to either play the turning ball confidently or produce genuine world-class spinners has its roots in county cricket.

The tourists picked three spinners for this final Test against Pakistan – Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Samit Patel.

None managed to influence the game on a pitch that was showing sharp turn from day one.

Samit Patel couldn't tie Pakistan's batsmen down // Getty

Pakistan's trio of slow bowlers – Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar and Shoiab Malik – have taken 10 of the 12 English wickets to fall so far in this match.

Rashid, the leg-spinner given a masterclass from Shane Warne on the eve of this Test, Moeen and Patel took just seven of the 20 Pakistani wickets at a combined cost of 430 runs. None managed to return an economy rate below three an over. 

Control was lost by England by the very bowlers they should have been banking on to win them this match.

Quick Single: Pakistan well placed for series win 

Just like Australia struggled to replace Warne following his retirement in 2007, England have gone through a plethora of spinners since Graeme Swann called it quits midway through the 2013-14 Ashes series.

Moeen has proven to be the best option, his 19-wicket haul against India in the English summer of 2014 helping his side come from 1-0 down to win the series. Yet he is a batsman, asked to open in this series no less, and he has been found wanting in conditions that should have brought the best out of his bowling.

The same can be said of Rashid, a leg-spinner who is so wayward at times you wonder whether he will ever cut it at this level just three Tests into his career.

As for Patel, he is a batsman too, a fine one for Nottinghamshire in county cricket, but one whose left-arm spin is just not good enough against the very best players of spin.

Patel was only brought into the squad as a late injury replacement for Surrey's Zafar Ansari, who is another spinning all-rounder best known for his ability with the bat.

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Moeen Ali managed just three wickets in Sharjah // Getty 

In trying to come up with a third spin option for this tour, England were struggling namely because there are very few quality frontline home-grown slow bowlers in county cricket.

Simon Kerrigan regularly returns a healthy return of wickets season-in, season-out for Lancashire. But he was exposed badly when given what will surely be his one and only Test – against Australia at The Oval in 2013, a game that saw Shane Watson effectively end the leg-spinner's international ambitions.

Stephen Parry, also of Lancashire, and Hampshire's Danny Briggs are two up-and-coming spinners, but both are better suited to limited-overs cricket. Neither are likely to make it at Test level.

Then there's James Tredwell, a jobbing stalwart whose limitations were brutally exposed when he failed to bowl England to victory against West Indies on a turning Antigua track back in April.

The reason for this dearth of slow-bowling talent is clear – county cricket, and specifically the ECB, do next to nothing to harness or develop spinners.

They actually actively harm the development of bowlers and batsmen in the domestic game by cracking down on pitches that show 'excessive turn'.

Hampshire, Warne's old county and where Briggs now plies his trade, were even deducted eight points back in 2011 for producing a pitch that the ECB deemed 'poor' and offered 'excessive turn'.

The match, against Patel's Nottinghamshire, went the full four days. It just happened that spinners took wickets – Patel 11 and Briggs six.

If counties are actively discouraged from preparing pitches that help spin, then you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out why England are short of options when it comes to selecting international spinners.

And they are paying the price for that short-sightedness here in the desert.