England's chance to spin a new narrative in Asia

As much as Asian batsmen dread playing pace and seam in conditions outside of the subcontinent, correspondingly the overseas batsmen are left in a fix when it comes to playing in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, UAE and Bangladesh. That the spinners play a prominent role in the success of teams, especially in Asian conditions, is a no-brainer considering the type of surfaces usually on offer in this part of the world.

Of the 18,000-plus wickets that have been taken in Asia to date in Test cricket, more than 51 per cent of those belong to the spinners, who make up just over 40 per cent of the types of bowlers used overall here. The spinners have bowled more than 53 per cent of the 220763 overs bowled in Asia since Test cricket started in this part in 1933, which is a larger percentage compared to the 32 per cent of overs bowled by spinners outside Asia, showing the dependence that the teams have on the tweakers to deliver.

Although the conditions do favour the slower bowlers on most occasions, the success ratio for the overseas spinners - in terms of wickets, average and strike rate - playing in Asia hasn't been at par with the overseas pacers in Asia, as the below table reflects. Although there has been a marginal improvement in terms of the overseas spinners' performance in Asia since 2010, with their strike rate getting better and the frequency of five-wicket hauls and 10-wicket hauls increasing, the average has also gone up in the same period.

Overall

Pre 2010

Since 2010