Who is the Best Left Arm Spinner in the World?

[thierry henry]

Dunno about that Tim. Vettori's test average over a very long period of time is 38. He'll have to do wonders to get it down to anything anywhere near respectable.

 

[bryce]

well he's got about the same amount of time he has been playing test cricket left to play test cricket which as you said is a very long time and he has been through the learning process and there is no reason why he shouldn't start to peak in the coming years.

 

[Tim]

Wasn't Vettori the youngest spinner to take 100 wickets in tests? and doesn't he also have 8 five wicket bags?.

That suggests to me that he has the potential to be far better than what he's currently achieving.
I don't know what went wrong over the last 3 years but it seems since the Natwest Trophy he's started to produce some good spells again.

 

[SJS]

I saw Sri Lanka's Herath today bowling against pakistan. He doesnt seem bad at all. Surely good enough to be included in the short list ?

 

[shaka]

spinners can last to their 40's, so it is plenty of time for him to lower his average.

 

[bryce]

yeah sri lanka and bangladesh have a stack of quality left-arm spinners ( by quality i mean good domestic averages) but i haven't seen most of them bowl.

 

[Tim]

Vettori's average dropped from mid 38 to mid 36 after the 1st Bangladesh test which tends to indicate that if he has a good year consistently taking wickets he could end up with an average around 30-32.

 

[shaka]

Vettori would love to get a couple of five wicket bags against Australia, that would really help him.

 

[bryce]

wouldn't bet against it, the australian batsman normally have trouble with him and their batsmen are basically the same ones.

 

[Tim]

State the obvious.

 

[marc71178]

Which is proven against his superior Test record against Australia (better then his own Test record) and has done well v Sri Lanka IIRC.

Seeing as I was replying to a message from Tim about recent times, what does the Australia series have to do with it?

 

[bryce]

State the obvious.

haha lol i'm sure he wouldn't mind a couple of centuries too

 

[marc71178]

Vettori's average dropped from mid 38 to mid 36 after the 1st Bangladesh test which tends to indicate that if he has a good year consistently taking wickets he could end up with an average around 30-32.

He would need an absolutely stellar year.

Something like 24 wickets for 0 runs, or 50 for 900!

 

[Tim]

never say never!
Although its going to be tough with 2 tours against Australia & Sri Lanka thrown in aswell.

 

[marc71178]

I know we never say never (look at the way Giles' numbers fell this summer), but with so many wickets behind him, he'll need to get incredible figures for a number of years to get it down to 32!

 

[SJS]

Herath justifies my confidence ??

4 for 64 in 32 overs in Lankan win.

 

[bryce]

haha he quoted himself

 

[true indian]

i would say murali kartik.

look at his bowling in the tvs cup last year in ind to c y he is the best left-arm spinner

 

[Tim]

But how often is Kartik playing? hardly ever.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

i would say murali kartik.

look at his bowling in the tvs cup last year in ind to c y he is the best left-arm spinner

Oh I agree completely. All observations should be based on one series... especially if the person under observation hasn't performed otherwise.