Top_Cat said:
So off-spinner has come along in leaps and bounds, eh? Why are there so few decent ones around? Why did off-spinners used to figure more prominently in Test sides? If anything I'd say the art of decent off-spin bowling has been lost somewhat; in this mad rush to increase the tricks in the bag (if you can't bowl a doosra then you're nothing these days), offies have forgotten how to use flight, deception and the rest or at least just don't get picked.
And why is the doosra looked upon as such an innovation? It sure is difficult to bowl but by that same token, it's none too difficult to pick either. This is evidenced by the fact that Murali in the last series against the Aussies barely got a wicket with it and in fact the comment was made many times during the series that he was relying on it far too much. The basics of off-spin practiced for many generations remain true; throw in the odd trick ball but use varying levels of spin, flight and speed to get good batsmen out. That's exactly what makes Murali a great bowler, not his doosra and in fact it was only when he figured that out that he really started to trouble the Aussie batsmen in that series.
Saqlain became a far less effective bowler the more he used his doosra and so has Harbi. Think about it.
Answer me this; did you see him bowl at all?
Off-spinners in world cricket
England - Giles, Batty
SA - Boje
India - Harbijhan, Kartik
Pakistan - Saqlain
SL - Murali
NZ - Vettori, Paul Wiseman
WI - Banks, etc
As you can see, there are no fewer off-spinners today than at most other times in test cricket history. In fact, the major difference is that the better bowlers from Asia have added more variation to the usual accuracy and are therefore more penetrative.
Australia has the benefit of selecting from 2 of the greatest leg-spinners in history and, as such, the dearth of test-standard off-spinning talent is largely irrelevant.
Unfortunately, the number of matches played today, coupled with television and computer analysis, means that closer scrutiny is made of every facet of a bowler's arsenal and variations do not remain a mystery for long. As such, some batsmen can learn to pick the doosras of Murali and Saqlain and render them less effective than previously was the case.
However, to say that a doosra is "easy to pick" is incorrect. Time and again, when used sparingly, the doosras of Murali and Harbi continue to confound batsmen the world over.
Moreover, Saqlain's problem lies not in the fact that batsmen are able to pick his doosra but in his inability to bowl a traditional off-spinner. This has led him to use the doosra as a stock-ball rather than as a variation and made him far more predictable..
Unless you use his first series against Aus as a standard, Harbijhan has not decreased in potency at all.
In any event, unless you are discussing the very top echelon of off-spinners (who utilise the skills that you describe), throughout history they have been little more than a stock bowler (as their standard delivery spins into a batsman's pads) until the last 10 years.
BTW, I have seen Ashley Mallett bowl live and highlights of matches in which he was a participant on many occasions (including this week on ESPN). You obviously rate him very highly but my assessment of him being on a par with Emburey and May is realistic. Anything above that contemplates a standing as an all-time great which is not justified at all.