A continuation of a series of posts on spinners in county cricket, parts 1&2 can be found  here  and  here The statistics for this post don't include the last round of county matches, so in most cases will cover the first 12 games of the 14 game 2023 county season.  I've only looked at front line spinners, which I've defined as bowlers who have bowled at least 150 overs.  13 bowlers have have met the front rank criteria. (Dawson, De Caires, Harmer, Leach, Parkinson, Quadri, Thompson, Swepson, Hartley, Carson, Bess Gohar and Keogh).  The best average amongst the 13 is Liam Dawson at 21.81 and Simon Harmer's 54 wickets is the most taken by any spinner.  Josh De Caires (AKA Mike Atherson) is a new name with a distinctly good 26.5 average (second best amongst front line spinners.) As a group the spinners have taken 320 wickets at an average of just over 36 runs a wicket.  That compares with an average for all bowlers of 31.7.  Wickets taken by front line spinners make u

Tomorrow sees the final of the county 50 over a side Metrobank cup, played at Trent Bridge between Hampshire and Leicestershire.  I don't think Hampshire's John Turner will be fit in time to play - but he's an interesting cricketer.  Picked for the T20 international series against New Zealand he is a classic new era ECB selection, born outside the UK (South Africa) and selected for having the right attributes of pace and bounce, rather than consistent performances, not his fault -  he's only played a total of thirty games in top level cricket. But he's also an example of how the county game can help to identify talent.  Hampshire gave him his initial chance in the 2021 season when call ups to The Hundred had left them short of bowlers for the 50 over competition.  It would be unlikely a player would get this chance if the county game was boiled down to 8 (or 10) provincial sides. So to celebrate tomorrow's final I've come up with a team of the tournament to