One of the obvious patterns from this home and away disparity piece was that kiwi seamers love a slice of Aotearoa conditions. There are exceptions to every rule and there are different degrees of disparity too (from Richard Hadlee being incredible regardless of where he is, to Shane Bond being powerfully good away but untouchable at home, to Daryl Tuffey being great at home but abysmal overseas)... but that’s the baseline trend. Meanwhile, to the surprise of exactly nobody, spinners have the opposite effect. They mostly perform better in away matches where pitches are more generous to their subtle arts.

Here are a few numbers rehashed from that home & away article, looking specifically at the spinnerzzz...

Daniel Vettori: 159 wickets @ 37.11 at home | 202 wickets @ 31.82 away
Bruce Taylor: 31 wickets @ 33.38 at home | 80 wickets @ 23.97 away
John Bracewell: 38 wickets @ 29.39 at home | 64 wickets @ 39.62 away
Hedley Howarth: 29 wickets @ 47.96 at home | 57 wickets @ 27.17 away

Those are the four spinners in the top twenty all-time wicket takers list for the Blackcaps in Test cricket. Only four out of twenty is already a clue in and of itself (or... not really, since the average kiwi bowling lineup is gonna have three or four seamers to every one spinner). Dayle Hadlee is on a similar trajectory, with 26 wickets at 50.23 in NZ versus 45 wickets at 24.06 away from NZ.

But what led to this article was a peek at how the top overseas tweakers fared in these conditions because the likes of Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan... they had no such dramas. And that’s what got me thinking. If the top spinners can take wickets wherever they go then is it just the conditions that are the problem or do our spinners generally kinda suck? Or did Warney take wickets because our batsmen are rank against spin while his Aussie buddies smacked our dibbly-dobblers out of the park? Or perhaps it’s an entrenched misconception about how spin should be used in kiwi cricket? Most likely it’s a combination of all of the above plus some more but, all the same, here we go.

Most Wickets by Foreign Spinners In Aotearoa

Shane Warne – 49 wickets @ 21.30 ave (9 Tests)
Erapalli Prasanna – 35 wickets @ 19.25 ave (7 Tests)
Sonny Ramadhin – 32 wickets @ 15.06 ave (6 Tests)
Muttiah Muralitharan – 30 wickets @ 19.96 ave (6 Tests)
Derek Underwood – 24 wickets @ 13.54 ave (4 Tests)
Phil Tufnell – 23 wickets @ 26.47 ave (6 Tests)
Alf Valentine – 23 wickets @ 18.95 ave (6 Tests)
Harbajan Singh – 21 wickets @ 24.19 ave (6 Tests)
Bishan Bedi – 20 wickets @ 24.65 ave (6 Tests)
Intikhab Alam – 20 wickets @ 25.55 ave (6 Tests)

Shane Warne’s numbers here are so immense that there is actually only one New Zealand spinner with more wickets within these shores than him: Daniel Vettori. Dipak Patel does tie Warney with 49 wickets but at an average that’s nearly double what ol’ flipper king managed. And in thirteen more matches too. Speaking in overall terms, which you don’t need me to tell you is an oversimplification but at least it’s a starting point, this is what the all-time numbers look like for foreign spin in Aotearoa by nation...

So there you go, if a kiwi spinner averages under 40 in New Zealand conditions than they’re doing way better than average. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have never been particularly competitive travellers. Neither has ever won a Test in New Zealand, in fact Bangladesh have lost nine out of nine. As for Sri Lanka, remember that this includes their early days... although knowing what we know about Murali’s hauls over here it’s not a pretty picture for the rest of them. Even Rangana Herath only ever bagged 8 wickets at an average of 64.00 in NZ. No non-Murali Sri Lankan spinner has ever taken more than two wickets in an innings in NZ.

But aside from that trio it’s New Zealand whose spinners look worst in Aotearoa. To illustrate that point a little, here’s the complete list of Blackcaps spinners who have taken five-wicket hauls in home Tests: Daniel Vettori (6), John Bracewell (3), Alex Moir (2), Stephen Boock (2), Tom Burtt, Dipak Patel & Jeetan Patel. Seven men combining for 16 5-fors. Compare that to pace bowling, where 29 men have combined for 89 5-fors in New Zealand. The seamers really aren’t leaving too many wickets for the tweakers, are they? And compare that, most damningly of all, to foreign spinners who have 42 5-fors. Of the 38 best individual innings bowling figures by spinners in this country... only six are by New Zealanders. And three of those New Zealanders are Daniel Vettori.

What’s the deal with that? The simple answer is that our spinners aren’t as good., after all you an’t blame the conditions when it’s the same for both teams. The very best exponents of turn and guile are able to take wickets wherever they please (apart from Australia, more on that at the end) and that theory is backed up by the fact that Warne and Murali took plenty of wickets against New Zealand in their own home conditions too. More than fifty each, in fact... although at a worse average for both of them (Warne at 27.16 in Oz, Murali at 22.44 in SL). But still dominant enough to be scary. Meanwhile others on that earlier list were slightly better in their home conditions. Intikhab Alam, Bishan Bedi... even Derek Underwood, terrifyingly. As if his 13s in Aotearoa weren’t good enough he also took 24 wickets at an average of 10.87 against New Zealand in England. Which also seems to back up the idea that New Zealander batsmen are just awful against spin regardless.

Except... that list of the top 38 spinning performances in NZ? Only two came in the last decade. One was a 6/40 for Keshav Maharaj in 2017 and the other was 6/91 for Sunil Narine in 2013. Those were the only 5-fors by any spinner in New Zealand in the 2010s; the best kiwi performances in that time have been a 4/36 for Vettori against Australia in 2010 and since then it’s... Bruce Martin with 4/43 against England in 2013. Because we’ve gone past the month of March when Dan Vettori did what he did to the Aussies in 2010, that means that Bruce Martin, yes Bruce Martin, has the best innings figures by a kiwi spinner in a home Test over the past calendar decade. But we can come back to that point in part two which will be specifically about NZ spinners.

So forget about kiwi spinners for a second. They’ve never done much in Aotearoa. What’s fascinating here is that while the best foreign spinners used to come here and still feast out... now it feels like nobody can turn the ball dangerously in the Land of the Long White Cloud. There are some decent possibilities why that may be: the Blackcaps have as good a batting line up as they’ve ever had right now plus it’s well established that they perform much better at home than away. And, this might be a bit harsh... but it also sorta feels like there just aren’t that many great spinners out there at the moment, nor have there been for quite a few years. Also if you really wanna get deep down in it then there could be a link between the climate crisis and the quality of pitches... but that’s a few steps beyond my qualifications.

Nah but the foreign spinner thing I can offer some perspective upon. Here’s how the top ten spin wicket-takers of the last ten years have fared against NZ:

Nathan Lyon: 40 wickets @ 20.00 in AUS | 10 wickets @ 22.60 in NZ

Ravi Ashwin: 45 wickets @ 15.91 in IND | 3 wickets @ 33.00 in NZ

Rangana Herath: 28 wickets @ 17.39 in SL | 8 wickets @ 64.00 in NZ

Ravi Jadeja: 14 wickets @ 24.07 in IND | 5 wickets @ 60.60 in NZ

Yasir Shah: 44 wickets @ 23.97 in UAE | 0 wickets from 13.3 overs in NZ

Moeen Ali (!): 5 wickets @ 50.00 in ENG | 0 wickets from 17.0 overs in NZ

Graeme Swann: 10 wickets @ 15.10 in ENG | N/A in NZ

Saeed Ajmal: N/A in Pak/UAE | 2 wickets @ 58.50 in NZ

Dilruwan Perera: 3 wickets @ 38.00 in SL | 5 wickets @ 79.50 in NZ

Shakib Al Hasan: 17 wickets @ 22.88 in BAN | 9 wickets @ 40.33 in NZ

(These are the only spinners with 120+ wickets between May 2010 to April 2020. If you’re wondering who the top kiwi in that time is ... it’s Mark Craig with 50 wickets at 46.52. As for what Moeen Ali is doing there I simply cannot say... but he’s a good example of a player who might be limited but he suits his home conditions nicely which, you know, fair play to the fella for knowing his role and doing it well)

A couple non-starters there – how about Graeme Swann never playing a Test in NZ!? - but these are the top wicket takers of the last decade and if foreign spin is supposed to be skittling kiwis in these contemporary days then only Nathan Lyon seems to have gotten the memo. These fellas are mostly all still doing the damage in their own conditions but when they come here... they can’t repeat what the old boys before them once did. The abilities of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson and company will have a lot to do with that as will the fact that T20 cricket reached full saturation in the last decade which has potentially influenced the ways that spinners are used. Also, there could be some copycat syndromes involved with visiting teams trying to borrow from the script that has, over the last few years, seen New Zealand as the second most dominant home team trailing only India in that regard (the home & away piece starts with some context on that idea). But there’s one other factor that may be at play too.

It goes without saying that spinners are going to generally be more successful when the ball actually spins. And it’s not only different countries that offer different conditions but different grounds too. So It’s an interesting one to look at the various Test cricket venues in Aotearoa to see how spin has fared on them and if you’re a budding kiwi spinner maybe look away now because the two top grounds for spin don’t even exist any more. AMI/Jade Stadium/Lancaster Park in Christchurch was the best of them with spinners averaging a combined 28.17 in 40 Tests there while Carisbrook in Dunedin saw just ten Tests but spinners took their scalps at an average of 28.34 there. Every other ground is at least five runs worse off per spinner’s wicket.

All Time Spinners Stats By NZ Ground

	Mat	Wkts	Ave	Econ	SR
Lancaster Park, Christchurch	40	319	28.17	2.34	72.00
Carisbrook, Dunedin	10	91	28.34	2.26	75.10
Eden Park, Auckland	50	396	33.37	2.40	83.10
University Oval, Dunedin	8	60	35.03	2.71	77.40
Basin Reserve, Wellington	64	398	39.03	2.60	89.90
Seddon Park, Hamilton	26	163	42.34	2.86	88.50
McLean Park, Napier	10	66	43.86	2.71	96.80
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui	1	6	50.50	2.70	112.00
Hagley Oval, Christchurch	7	21	56.28	3.41	99.00

What’s curious about that is there’s been this belief that Seddon Park in Hamilton is the one ground where a second spinner might be considered... but that hasn’t been the case the last few times the ‘Caps have played there and the numbers don’t back that theory up at all. Average of 42.34, strike-rate of 88.5. Napier is a state highway so that’s no shocker and Mount Maunganui has only had one match... but what’s up with Hagley Oval? The old Chch venue was the best in the country for spin and the new one is the worst?

Not by as much as it looks though. Eden Park is right up there on the all-time list but in the three Tests it’s hosted in the last decade (jeezus, only three Tests in the most populous city in the country – sort your self out, Auckland)... spinners have dropped to a frightening 56.15 average and a strike-rate of 113.3. Seddon Park is also in the fifties while the Basin Reserve’s last 13 Tests have seen spinners take 71 wickets at 44.52. In the last ten years there is no ground in New Zealand where spinners have averaged less than 40. Pace bowlers, on the other hand, there’s no ground over the last ten years where seamers have averaged more than 40.

In other words, bad spinners have always struggled in Aotearoa but good spinners used to be able to get their rewards... and either there aren’t enough good spinners going around any more or we’re not producing wickets that can help them. Probably a little from column A and a little from column B. Those are overall numbers too, including both the Blackcaps and their opposition. The difference between kiwi seamers vs spin is even more drastic... the average kiwi seamer turns into Shane Bond at basically every ground in the country... apart from Uni Oval and the Basin. The Basin which despite the old timey tales of bowling into the wind and day one moisture in the pitch is pretty much a batting paradise these days.

Bringing it all back home now, this article started by pondering why overseas spinners do so much better in our conditions than New Zealand’s own spinners do and is ending realising that while that may have been the case back in the day it sure as hell ain’t any longer. The next one of these exploration thingies will focus on the many intricacies of Blackcaps spinners in New Zealand conditions, particularly the debacle since Dan Vettori retired, but before I hang up the phone on this one I was curious about what spin looks like in Australia. We’ve just seen a Blackcaps Test squad go over there and get spread like nutella on a slice of toast. It was awful, it was disastrous, it was... well, as far as spin bowling is concerned it was exactly what everybody else does in Australia too. Here’s a selection of some of the finest spinners of the last thirty years...

Bloody hell, it’s a massacre. That list contains every spinner to have played Test cricket this millennium with at least 150 wickets in their career. Not including Australians. Some of them aren’t anywhere near as good as others on the list and the trend of the more recent spinners being clearly worse than the spinners that played in the 90s and early 00s is easy to see... but note that there’s not a single bowler on that list who bowled better than their career average in Australia. The closest is Shakib and that’s only because Australia hasn’t played a home Tests versus Bangladesh since 2003, keeping his numbers nice and empty. Lucky bastard.

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