The Ashes: The future of spin bowling in Australia under the spotlight after lean summer

“Why would you bowl it?”

It’s the Steve Smith comment after the Boxing Day Test that would send a shudder down the spine of domestic spinners.

Their craft, one carried by some of Australia’s greats, has an uncertain future in the country as it grapples with what a good Test match wicket looks like.

The use of spin bowling in Australia is on a sharp decline.

This season, Australia used Nathan Lyon just for just three overs in the first Test while England didn’t pick a spinner at all. Then Lyon was dropped for the second match in Brisbane, was recalled and used on a batting-friendly wicket in Adelaide before he was injured and not replaced for Melbourne.

Despite England having spinning all-rounder Will Jacks in their side, not a single ball of spin was bowled in the disastrous Boxing Day Test at the weekend.

Smith said slow bowling was the easiest thing to face on seaming wickets and feared teams would use the chance to shift the momentum of the game by trying to take a spinner down.

“A lot of the wickets we are playing on now, spin is the easiest thing to face, on some of these wickets that are offering a lot of seam, it’s almost at a point where why would you bowl it when you could leak 30 or 40 runs quickly if they decide to play positively and the game shifts immediately,” he said post-match.

“We’ve seen the Perth Stadium, we barely bowled spin, we didn’t bowl a spinner in the pink-ball Test and last week (Adelaide) was obviously a different one, it was quite a dry surface and offered some rough, which was quite a nice wicket.

“This one, spin didn’t look like getting a chance to bowl.

“I don’t know whether it’s something that can be spoken about. I love seeing spinners play a part in the game, but right now, why would you?”

Just four players — two on each side — have bowled spin at all in this series. Lyon has bowled 55 overs, his lowest-ever count in a home summer and Jacks has bowled 50.3 overs, but across three matches. Part-timers Joe Root and Travis Head have chipped in.

That’s just 130.3 overs of spin across four matches. Even with Todd Murphy expected to be included in Australia’s side for the final match in Sydney starting Sunday, and Jacks set to retain his place, this series will easily see the least amount of spin bowled in an Ashes Down Under since the late great Shane Warne retired.

Spin has taken 6.43 per cent of the 140 wickets in this series. Lyon is the 11th ranked wicket-taker in the series and Jacks the 12th. Root and Head are wicketless.

In England’s 2010-11 series victory, five different players — Xavier Doherty, Michael Beer and part-timers Steve Smith, Marcus North and Michael Clark — all bowled spin, while Graeme Swann bowled 219.1 overs in a total of 400 for the series.

Lyon bowled 176.2 and Swann 142 in Australia’s 2013-14 whitewash in a total of 449.1 and Lyon bowled a whopping 260 in 2017-18 as England tried a range of options for a total of 535.5.

Jack Leach, Joe Root, Dawid Malan and Lyon combined for 305 in the 2020-21 series.

Spin in Australian Ashes series

2010-11: 400 overs

• Graeme Swann 219.1, Xavier Doherty 75.5, Marcus North 38, Michael Beer 29, Steve Smith 31, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Clarke 3

2013-14: 448.7

• Nathan Lyon 176.2, Graeme Swann 142, Monty Panesar 70.5, Joe Root 32, Scott Borthwick 13, Steve Smith 11, Kevin Pietersen 4

2017-18: 535.5

• Nathan Lyon 260, Moeen Ali 169.2, Mason Crane 48, Joe Root 28.3, Dawid Malan 21, Steve Smith 9

2021-22: 305

• Nathan Lyon 163.1, Jack Leach 73.5, Joe Root 57, Dawid Malan 11

2025-26: 130.3 (four Tests)

• Nathan Lyon 55, Will Jacks 50.3, Travis Head 16, Joe Root 9

Almost all Australian wickets have had more grass on them across the past five years, after a push to move away from dull draws. It’s produced high-octane cricket, but it has made the spinner an endangered species.

That coincided with changes to the Kookaburra ball, including a more pronounced seam.

In his column for The West Australian, champion Test batter Greg Blewett said leaving more grass on decks is a worrying trend that is decreasing the quality of long-for matches, both at international and domestic level.

“We’re used to hard and normally fast pitches with nowhere near as much grass as they’re leaving on them these days,” he wrote.

“They used to allow for deterioration — and maybe a bit of reverse-swing — later in the match which introduces a new tactical challenge.

“If domestic teams are playing on the same sort of wickets, it’s going to do our spin stocks no good.”

The issue could become more prevalent as 38-year-old Lyon continues to battle late-career injuries and selectors look towards the future.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald has all but confirmed Murphy’s place in the side for the Sydney Test. He was picked ahead of left-armer Matt Kuhnemann and West Australian Corey Rocchiccioli to replace Lyon in the squad.

As he prepares to recall the Victorian tweaker, McDonald had a more positive view on the outlook for spinners.

“It takes a lot for us to not pick a spinner and we have been pushed into making that decision,” he responded when asked about the future of spin by The West.

“Pink ball (match) was always going to be a challenge for spin, but red-ball games that’s the first time in a long-time we haven’t picked a spinner.

“It’s not something that we like doing, I don’t think it’s something that will happen moving forward. This is an outlier and we didn’t pick a spinner in a red-ball Test match in Australia because of the surface that presented, and I suppose we were validated with the way the Test match played out.”

Rocchiccioli — who has been the leading spinner in the shield across the past four seasons — as well as capped pair Murphy and Kuhnemann, will play a far bigger role in the blue-riband tour of India in early 2027.

McDonald said the depth of spin stocks was just fine.

“We like to play a spinner, I think we’ve got great spin depth as well. That’s the exciting path for us,” he said.