What have you done for me lately?
That question combined with the influence of new spin coach Nathan Hauritz explains the decision to leave Andy McBrine out of the Ireland T20 World Cup squad in favour of fellow off-spinner Simi Singh.
Upon joining the Ireland backroom staff in August, the former Australia international immediately hammered home his wish for Ireland’s spinners to prioritise wickets over low economy rates. Not that wickets weren’t important before, but players themselves admitted that their first thought in the past was to contain rather than attack.
“When you think about the match-up to the left-handers, Simi’s done a really good job at looking to take wickets,” says Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan, explaining the decision to leave out McBrine. “We feel that Simi has maybe one or two more tools in his tool box at this stage. He can take the ball away from the right-hander.
Johnny Murphy on refereeing the All-Ireland final: ‘Hand on heart, I was happy with the way it went’
Malachy Clerkin: Ireland can’t afford to miss the women’s Euros - once momentum is lost, it’s hard to get back
The bird-shaped obsession that drives James Crombie, one of Ireland’s best sports photographers
To contest or not to contest? That is the question for Ireland’s aerial game
“Andy has done really well from an economical point of view in the last 12 months but we are trying to encourage a brand of brave cricket and looking to take wickets. There’s a little bit of work for him to do in that space, he’s received that message and is really looking forward to keep pushing his case.”
This isn’t the first time a lack of variety from McBrine has been mentioned, Hauritz saying something similar when the Donemana man was dropped against Afghanistan in August.
[ Singh comes in for McBrine as Hauritz looks for more wickets from spin attackOpens in new window ]
There are two arguments that push back against the idea that Singh is a significantly greater wicket threat. Across the board, McBrine has 10 wickets in 12 internationals in 2022, Singh 11 in 10 – not drastically different numbers.
Singh also has bowled just two overs in T20Is this summer, taking no wickets at a cost of 30 runs.
The latter has likely been discounted because they were rain-shortened games not suited to spinners; there was no scope to build pressure and gripping a wet ball was tricky.
The former point is more salient. Enter recency bias.
Out of McBrine’s 10 wickets in 2022, just two came in six matches this summer. The other eight came in the T20 World Cup qualifiers back in February, on surfaces in Oman that offer much more help to slow bowling than what is expected in Hobart, the venue for Ireland’s opening three World Cup games.
What have you done for me lately indeed.
The answer from Singh is ‘not a lot’, but the answer for McBrine is far enough away from what is sought that his competitor’s lack of game time did not hinder him. It is also worth pointing out that inter-squad games were held lately, but with no publicly available data, it is impossible to compare performance and see how those matches affected the call.
Another – albeit minor – factor that likely played into the decision is the form of Paul Stirling’s off-spin. The Irish vice-captain hasn’t bowled for his country since December 2021, but recent success in franchise cricket looks to have turned the needle his way once again.
“Scottie Irvine, our analyst, gives constant reminders that Paul Stirling should be bowling in white-ball cricket for us,” says Malan. “It was great to see him get that opportunity throughout the Hundred. He is looking forward to playing that role for us.”
Stirling had success for the Southern Brave of late, both pushing the new ball away from right-handers, contrary to the expected turn in the opposite direction, and bowling outside the powerplay to left-handers.
Interestingly, both Malan and Stirling himself see his part-timers as less of an attacking option – and therefore out of line with the Ireland philosophy – especially when trying to sneak an over in with the new ball to unset batters. Yet that movement from Stirling, the ability to skid or sometimes swing the ball away to the right-hander, has led to wickets in the past.
He dismissed Alex Hales, now back in the England squad, doing just that when playing against the Trent Rockets. It wasn’t the first time the tactic was successful.
“I’m a believer in if things are working, you do that until it doesn’t,” said Stirling on his bowling when still in the Southern Brave camp. “I got a couple of wickets against South Africa at Stormont [in 2021] with the same sort of ball that swings or moves away slightly and threatens the outside edge.
“But it also has its negative effects, it does open up the off-side. You’re never going to have the off-side protected as an off-spinner in the powerplay. The plan is to bowl to the two out fielders, long-on and cow corner. There’s not much point in putting out a deep cover or long-off which would leave me bare for technically my stock ball. It’s okay for sneaking one or two in, but nothing more than that.”
As ever with this Ireland side, nothing is set in stone and different options always present themselves. The summer started with McBrine as the sole frontline spinner with Gareth Delany’s leggies as a back-up when match-ups suited.
A few short months later, Delany is the main spinner, George Dockrell is being called upon to bowl more in the midst of his batting resurgence, Singh was given hardly any opportunity to bowl but is on the plane to Australia, McBrine isn’t and now it looks like Stirling will be thrown the ball again.
[ The Finisher: George Dockrell’s roundabout journey to premier power hitterOpens in new window ]
Singh looks set to play against the West Indies – a side featuring left-handers like Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran – in Ireland’s third game on a used deck in Hobart. Against sides with fewer lefties, Delany and Dockrell will be the prime spin options, with Stirling there for the odd over.
These are rare certainties in an Ireland spin attack that continues to fluctuate from series to series. Some call it flexibility, others instability. Results in Hobart will determine who is right.
