5 best batsmen of spin for England till date
England has always been a very competitive side winning both at home and away. But never did the inventors of this beautiful game imagined that their home side would be so clueless in front of the spinning ball.
After years of playing cricket against top nations, England players still find it difficult to rescue themselves out of the spinners' trap.
Playing against spin-dominant sides gives the England team management and the players sleepless nights. For an English player playing spin well is a great quality and equates to great batsmanship.
For the same reason, such batsmen and the innings played by them against a strong spin attack are celebrated by England fans.
Every time the England cricket team looked down and out against spin there was at least one braveheart who came ahead to sail the ship through the storm.
England has always been strong at home but in the ongoing series against India, the English batsmen seem to be having no answers to the bowling of Indian spinners - Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal who have been in sublime form with the ball.
Let us have a look at five English batsmen from whom the current players can get a few tips and tricks.
#5 Mike Gatting
England's best player of spin - Mike Gatting was a stout and short guy with immense power who played ravishing cover drives against fast bowlers and bludgeoned the spinners.
Ironically though, Gatting was at the receiving end of what is regarded as the 'Ball of the Century' bowled by Shane Warne during the 1993 Ashes tour.
The ball pitched well outside leg and spun square to magically hit the top of off stump. This was perhaps the only instance when Gatting looked helpless against spin.
Gatting scored his first Test ton after 54 innings in Mumbai against India, albeit a little late, it was a knock marked by grit, determination, and patience.
That knock of 136 on a spinning and uneven Mumbai wicket is a testimony to the fact that Gatting understood and played spin well.
Post this innings Gatting went on to score nine more Test hundreds and several other useful knocks.
As a reward for his consistency, he was made the captain of English side a year later. As a captain, Gatting's biggest achievement was winning the 1986-87 Ashes.
Soon after that, he was in the middle of a controversy when he had a heated argument with the Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana.
A few months later he was sacked after an alleged sexual encounter with a barmaid.
He did make a comeback after four long years but was never really able to bring back his form and retired after the 1993-1994 Ashes series.