Top spinners in modern day cricket

2. Graeme Swann

The English have struggled to produce a quality spinner in the past but they have turned it around in the last few years. It was Monty Panesar at first who grabbed the headlines with Ashes success, whereas Graeme Swann became a consistent fixture in the side soon after.

Swann started his Test career in 2008 when England toured India and scalped four wickets in the match with England ending on the losing side. The experience he gained in India improved him considerably and he rattled the Australians in the Ashes. In 2009, he became the first English spinner to take 50 wickets in a calender year.

He is orthodox in his approach and does not do anything particularly bamboozling with the ball in the manner of mystery spinners, but his control over the traditional aspects of spin bowling – flight, drift, speed variation – is impeccable. He is equally effective bowling to right handed and left-handed batsmen. His record of 222 wickets in 52 Test matches is an indication of the success he has had in the last three years.