South Africa relies on spin now.
You feel dirty reading that.
I did writing it.
With Johan Bothotype and the rugby necked Roelof Erasmus van der Merwe in their side, and the job they have done for them in the last 6 months, they have become a limited overs team based on spin.
The commentators love mentioning it.
“Spin is their key”, they say, “Isn’t that weird”. Then they chuckle.
Being South Africa they still find a way to ruin spin.
Their international spinners, Harris included, aren’t really spinners in the sense that Bedi, O’Reilly or Colin McCool were.
Johan is a flawed robot, Roelef a slogger who spins it, and Paul Harris a one armed freakshow with a penchant for Michael Hussey style statistical anomaly.
They aren’t flamboyant spinners of the ball, they don’t have mystery balls, flight is not their weapon, and their main job is containment. They are like three slightly more interesting versions of Nathan Hauritz.
That isn’t the main problem.
Look at how Bothotype and Roelef are used mechanically.
South Africa don’t use the spinners in the powerplays, they don’t even delay the powerplay to try and slow down the run rate with spin and heaven forbid they would bring them on after a wicket as an attacking option.
They didn’t even use their spinners when Dilshan slapped around their cro-magnum seamers for 105 off the first 15 overs.
Maybe their plan was to tire Dilshan out with boundaries and then bring on their robotic spinner to bore him.
Any large structured philistine can be a fast bowler, but being a spinner is supposed to be cooler, funner and sexier.
Not when these boys do it.
It takes a special nation to suck the life out of spin bowling, but if anyone was going to do it, I am glad it was them.
