Top 5 English Test spinners of all time

Whenever one thinks of English bowlers, the things that usually come to mind are green pitches, gloomy weather and fast-medium bowlers dominating batsmen with their swing and seam. While it is true that swing and seam bowlers are generally dominant in England, spinners also come into play later on in the game and hence, it is not a surprise that the country has produced plenty of excellent spinners throughout the course of its rich cricketing history.

Most English Test teams have, over the past 120 odd years, had one or more spin bowlers as a part of their attack and many of them have gone on to become giants of the game. Here is a look at five of the best spinners to have ever played for England.

#5 Tony Lock

Left-arm off-spinner Tony Lock played for England in 49 Test matches stretching over a period of around 16 years and during the course of his career, he emerged as one of the world's leading spin bowlers.

Lock formed the perfect foil for Jim Laker (more on him later) at both Surrey and England. Lock, however, was not a defensive spinner by any means and preferred to attack the batsmen with his variations as well as his subtle changes of length. Lock was an integral part of the great England team of the 1950s when they famously won the Ashes and then retained it.

He took 174 wickets in his Test career at an impressive average of 25.58 and recorded an economy rate of just over two runs an over. He remains one of England's greatest spin bowlers.

#4 Fred Titmus

Fred Titmus

Right-arm off-spinner Fred Titmus emerged as one of three world-class spinners in England in the mid-1950s and although he played only 53 Test matches, his career spanned a period of around 19 years.

The fact that England had to play either Ray Illingworth or Titmus in the side meant that neither of the two bowlers played as many Tests as they would have liked, but there is no doubt as to who among the two was the better bowler.

Titmus had the classical right-arm off-spinner's action and had the ability to judge the weakness in a batsman fairly quickly. In addition to that, his mastery over the art of flighting the ball at a relatively slow pace almost always kept the batsmen guessing.

In the 53 Test matches that he turned out for England, he picked up 153 wickets at an average of 32.22 and recorded an economy rate of 1.95.

#3 Jim Laker

Jim Laker

England's cricketing fortunes in the 1950s were intimately linked with the exploits of their star right-arm off-spinner Jim Laker and in a career that lasted around 11 years, he rose to become one of the best spin bowlers from the country.

Laker had the ability to extract a lot of turn. Additionally, if there was any help from the pitch then he could be absolutely deadly and this ability coupled with Laker's legendary accuracy made him a very difficult bowler to face.

Perhaps his greatest moment as a bowler came in the Old Trafford Test match in 1956 when he picked up 19 wickets Australia and claimed all 10 wickets in the 2nd innings of the game. It remains the best match figures in cricketing history and it is highly unlikely that it will ever be bettered. In the 46 Tests that he played for England, Laker picked up 193 wickets at a superb average of 21.24 and remains one of the greatest English exponents of off-spin bowling.

#2 Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann had to wait until he was almost 30 to get his first Test cap for England but once he did, the right arm off-spinner became an integral part of the side and went on to become one of the world's top spin bowlers in a relatively short career.

Swann was an extremely crafty off-spinner, who depended not on the flighted delivery, but instead on sharp turn, loop and accuracy. His presence in the England side saw them go on a winning run that culminated in them becoming the world's number 1 Test side. In a career that lasted five years, he played 60 Test matches and picked up 255 wickets at an average of 29.96. In addition to that, he had a pretty decent strike rate of 60.1.

#1 Derek Underwood

Derek Underwood (l)

Kent's Derek Underwood was an unorthodox left-arm spin bowler, who came in off a longer run-up than most spinners and bowled fast off-spin that flummoxed the best batsmen in the world over the course of a career that spanned 16 years.

He debuted for England in 1966 and till his last game in 1982, remained the team's foremost spinner, responsible for triggering memorable collapses that one would usually associate with devastating fast bowlers. In fact, Underwood was nicknamed 'Deadly' by his team-mates at Kent due to his exploits.

He was incredibly accurate and spun the ball at such pace that batsmen struggled to cope. On the other hand, if there was any pace on the pitch then he became even deadlier and almost unplayable. He played in 86 Test matches and picked up 297 wickets at an average of 25.83 and was responsible for many memorable English victories. He is the greatest spinner to have ever played the game for England.