I think Rafique at his peak would have made the English side on tours to the Sub Continent.Gilo, no contest. Fact of the matter is, Rafique would, at no stage have got near the England side whilst Giles was the best spin option for England for a time, and would have been remembered with more fondness had he not come back after his hip injury.
Well even as the second spinner, he would have been competing with someone like Gareth Batty or Shaun Udal who were both underated. Although I suppose its hard to believe he wouldn't have toured ahead of Alex Loudon in the Indian ODI series in 2006.I think Rafique at his peak would have made the English side on tours to the Sub Continent.
Also Rafigue was a very tidy bowler, so he may have played on a few occasions elsewhere. His batting was underrated slightly too, scored a Test century.
Rich has mentioned [on several occasions] that Giles shouldn't have played many Tests that he did play.Well even as the second spinner, he would have been competing with someone like Gareth Batty or Shaun Udal who were both underated. Although I suppose its hard to believe he wouldn't have toured ahead of Alex Loudon in the Indian ODI series in 2006.
And he may have been a tidy bowler, but apart from on the sub-continent, I'd like to know the last time England played two specialist spinners for two games in a row. Under the previous selectors, it was simply a policy to only play one spinner in 'non-spin' conditions.
To be fair Mashrafe Mortaza had caught on somewhat during that stage.Rafique had one period where he would take 6 wickets virtually every test. Giles was never that dangerous although he had longevity.
It's also easier to bowl when you've got Flintoff and Jones creating pressure down the other end. Rafique had to shoulder the attack by himself.
Is it you? I have seen all the 3 above mentioned spinner. Its none of them. Anyway you look ......................
It's really difficult to select the best among the worst.Who's the better test spinner?