Marnus Labuschagne's leggies re-open an old question

When Australia's thinkers assessed a desperately poor showing in Sri Lanka two years ago, much of the spotlight was shone upon the spin bowlers needing to be more consistent to impose pressure. Nathan Lyon went away and worked on his "bowl ugly" mindset, centered around changes of pace and trapping batsmen in the crease, while Steve O'Keefe returned to fitness to reclaim the spot he gave up to Jon Holland.

In subsequent series in India and Bangladesh, Australia's spin bowling division performed far more strongly, Lyon in particular, while O'Keefe and Ashton Agar played useful supporting roles. Holland, in the meantime, worked his way back into contention. All based on the concept of nagging accuracy, targeting the stumps and letting the pitch do the work.

Ah yes, the pitch. In all three of the Sri Lanka Tests, three of the four India Tests (Ranchi excepted) and both the Bangladesh Tests, the surfaces prepared offered help for spin bowlers - whether sharp turn, inconsistent bounce, or both - virtually from the first day. Fingerspinners prosper in such climes, provided they deny batsmen loose balls with which to find the boundary. Put simply, there is enough natural assistance to lend an element of mystery and danger to these tamer members of the spin brotherhood.

But in the sorts of conditions presented in Dubai on the first two days of Australia's first Test against Pakistan, the need for a quality wristspinner's extra snap, bounce and variation was as clear as the folly of scheduling a long-form match from Sunday to Thursday in the UAE when the weekend is set for Friday and Saturday. It was clear even before the debutant batsman and part-time wristspinner Marnus Labuschagne entered Australia's attack and quickly found the sort of grip and bounce that neither Lyon nor Holland could conjure this early in the match.

This is not to say Lyon bowled badly, tying down an end for long periods while conceding barely two runs per over. What he lacked was the sort of help in the pitch that would enable him to hit gloves, pads or stumps with regularity, something he may be able to find later in the match should Australia's batsmen grant him the opportunity. For Holland life was more of a struggle, as he found the combination of the quicker pace demanded by the conditions and the high-arm action of his natural style did not agree with one another. So looping deliveries on a good length in Australia became flatter half-volleys in Dubai - CricViz stats had him landing 46% of his deliveries in the slot fuller than desired, whereas Lyon's figure was a more tantalising 35%. Holland, for all his gifts, has some work to do.

Largely due to the freakish nature of Shane Warne's physical and tactical gifts as a spin bowler, Australia may never again have a talent of his like again. But this is not to say that the nation's cricket system is unable to nurture wristspinners capable of doing the job where and when required - it needed only a glance towards one of the few populated areas of the Dubai International Stadium to glimpse Australia's selection chairman Trevor Hohns, a more than serviceable legspinner and contributor to the successful 1989 Ashes tour. His reluctance to go to the West Indies in 1991 led indirectly to Warne's fast-tracking and the mesmerising tale to follow.

Based in Queensland, Hohns has seen numerous legspinners come and go during his time in and around the selection panels of Australia and the Bulls, including Daniel Doran, Cameron Boyce, and more recently Mitchell Swepson, who toured India alongside Labuschagne. Figures of 1 for 121 in his only match for Australia A on that tour probably ruled Swepson out of contention for this series, while at the same time the chances created by Labuschagne helped contribute to his own bolter's case.

Before this match, the captain Tim Paine had spoken of Labuschagne's legbreaks as a useful value-add to his studious batting and alertness in the field: "We think Marnus brings a lot to the group, he's a really good player of spin and we think as well his legspin will be something we can throw at the Pakistanis. They might not expect him, and they've really improved in the last 12 months." But his emergence midway through a previously barren second day for the Australians highlighted the possibilities that might be offered by a more regular wristspin presence.

From Labuschagne's right hand the ball bounced and spun with enough pace to force false strokes, coaxing an edge from the bat of Asad Shafiq that was well caught by Paine, and another that eluded the grasp of Aaron Finch. At the same time Labuschagne's high arm and topspin had the ball disturbing a previously benign surface for some of the first occasions in the match, regardless of whether it had landed in the rough or the middle of the pitch. Leggies do, for the most part, find that little bit extra.

"I've been working on my bowling for a long time but the last three months specifically, just getting a bit faster through the air and making sure I'm bowling the right length," Labuschagne said. "Been working really hard with Sri [Sridharan Sriram] and John Davison back home, making sure we get that length right. So it was pleasing to see it come off today, I was able to come on and not go for too many runs and also lucky enough to get a wicket as well.

"It was a change-up, a change in momentum, a change in the rhythm of the batsmen and just making them think a little bit differently about how they want to play shots and stuff like that. That's probably the key, trying to get them to think a little bit differently with someone who bowls a bit of legspin."

Of course with that extra reward comes extra risk, and in an increasingly metricised and quantified Australian cricket environment, the art of the legspinner may be seen as too much of an extravagance. Except, that is, when taken up as an extra string by a batsman, as is the case with Labuschagne, or before him the suspended Steven Smith and David Warner. An assessment of Australia's current stocks in wristspin certainly carries that sense, given the fringe status of Swepson, Boyce, Adam Zampa, Fawad Ahmed and the teenager who swapped places with Fawad in Victoria's domestic limited-overs campaign, Tom O'Connell.

Among those compelled to deliver the ball by flinging it over the wrist towards batsmen kept guessing by its spin, drift, drop, and turn, perhaps the most intriguing prospect in Australia right now is another Pakistani, Usman Qadir. Chosen by Western Australia in Agar's absence, he claimed six wickets in four matches of the same tournament where O'Connell made his debut, and appears to be in the state's plans for the Sheffield Shield, having already stated his desire to qualify for Australia. Should he win a distinguished talent visa through his performances, such a pathway may well open up within the space of two years.

In the closing overs of day two, as Finch began his first Test innings in the company of Usman Khawaja, the primary threat of Yasir Shah's legbreaks was parried with a few nervous moments along the way. Yasir's skills, so outsize as to have been celebrated by none other than Warne himself, are of an exceptionally rare kind, combining the consistency of Lyon with the spin, bounce and variation hinted at by Labuschagne. For now, at least, Australia must look on at his wiles with a combination of aspiration and envy.