Shane Shillingford’s impressive statistics make him one of West Indies’ most successful spinners

Having a rich legacy of fast-bowlers, spinners never quite made a name for the West Indies after Sonny Ramadhin, Alf Valentine and Lance Gibbs. However, Shane Shillingford is their most successful spinner in recent times. Nishad Pai Vaidya examines a few statistics.

Shane Shillingford picked up six wickets against India in the first Test at the Eden Gardens © IANS

Having a rich legacy of fast-bowlers, spinners never quite made a name for the West Indies after Sonny Ramadhin, Alf Valentine and Lance Gibbs. However, Shane Shillingford is their most successful spinner in recent times. Nishad Pai Vaidya examines a few statistics.

On a decent track the Eden Gardens, Shane Shillingford tricked a line-up that is known to play spin well. His doosras and prodigiously turning off-spinners caused the Indian top-order many problems and left them in a precarious position. For years, West Indies have been looking for a front-line spinner who holds a spot in the long-run. Shillingford may be the answer to those calls if his performance in his first eleven Tests is anything to go by.
 
Having made his debut against South Africa in 2010, Shillingford went through a tough time when his action came under scrutiny during the tour to Sri Lanka that year. The tests conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) deemed his action illegal and he was only allowed to bowl when he corrected it in June 2011.

Even after his performance against India, there were certain questions about Shillingford’s action. Back then, hiss action was said to breach the 15 degree guideline as his extension of the elbow was 17 degrees. Although he was given the go-ahead later, Shillingford will still have to stay clear of the doubts raised. Bishan Singh Bedi tweeted a strong comment the day Shillingford stunned the Indian batsmen:

They’r all looking at frnt ft no ball,no body’s bothered abt bent elbow!But Indns can’t complain can they?Am very wary o longsleevd offies!!

— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) November 7, 2013

Two years down the line, Shillingford is their frontline spinner — ahead of the likes of the starry Sunil Narine and Devendra Bishoo.
 
Only 11 Tests old, Shillingford is already sixth on the list of leading spinners for West Indies. Here are the relevant stats:

 
 
If one excludes Chris Gayle and Carl Hooper, as they aren’t specialist spinners but merely rolled their arm over in times of need, then Shillingford is fourth in the list along with the likes of Lance Gibbs, Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine. And this table does tell you that spin hasn’t played much of a role for West Indies in recent times. Ramadhin and Valentine were their main spinners in the 1950s. Gibbs held the reins in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then, it has all been about fast-bowling as Clive Lloyd’s men backed pace to beat the world. Even through their decline in the 2000s, they tried numerous spinners, but none of them established themselves in the side. They had faith in a Narine, but he is more of a limited-overs bowler.
 
Let us now compare Shillinford’s current record with Gibbs, Ramadhin and Valentine’s at similar stages in their respective careers i.e. after 11 Tests. Here is the table:

 
 
Shillingford has done better on the wickets front when compared to Ramadhin and Gibbs at a similar stage. Thus, in recent times, he is certainly their most successful spinner and if he maintains his form, West Indies would be well served. As discussed in the article about Ravichandran Ashwin and his record alongside Ian Bothm, statistics hide a few important factors. Firstly, 19 of Shilingford’s wickets came in two Tests, against the weak Zimbabwe side. But, against Australia as well, he has a ten-for, which came at Dominica in 2012.
 
In a nutshell, Shillingford has done well so far and has fared way better than some of his recent contemporaries, however, 11 Tests is too short a time to judge him. Nevertheless, his recent performance against India shows that he can be a tough customer on a wicket that aids spin. His true test would come on wickets that don’t have much in them for the tweakers.

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_44)