In the first four Tests of the series, the spinners took just nine wickets, a mere fraction of the total number of overs bowled. (Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Australia created an unwanted piece of history by naming a Test XI without a specialist spinner for the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with captain Steve Smith admitting he had been cornered. Not since 1888 had the hosts gone into a Sydney Test without a leading slow bowler at what was once considered Australia’s haven.A 138-year run was broken for the fifth and final Ashes Test against England, including all-rounder Beau Webster and the overlooked Todd Murphy.
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“I hate it,” Smith said.“But if we keep producing wickets that we don’t think will spin and the seam plays a big role and the cracks play a big role, you’re going to be kind of backed into a corner.The decision reflects a growing trend in Australian cricket. The hosts had earlier left out veteran Nathan Lyon for the second pink-ball Test in Brisbane, before Murphy – brought in as Lyon’s injury replacement – was also left out in Melbourne and Sydney.England, too, continued without their leading spinner Shoaib Bashir for the fifth Test in a row in Sydney, meaning he will return home without bowling a single ball in the Test match in Australia.In the first four Tests of the series, the spinners took just nine wickets, a mere fraction of the total number of overs bowled.Speaking in Melbourne after the seam-friendly fourth Test ended in two days, Smith elaborated on the spinners’ absence.“With a lot of the wickets we’re playing now, I think spin … is the easiest thing,” he said.“On some of these wickets that offer a lot of seams, it’s almost to the point where (you ask), ‘Why would you bowl when you know you could get away with 30 or 40 runs quickly if they decide to play positively and the game shifts immediately?’“I like to see spinners playing a part in the game, but why would you do it now?”
