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Virat Kohli has been unveiled as the latest cover star of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, following his leading role in India’s clean sweep of trophies against England

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-20172:32

India’s player of the year – Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has been unveiled as the latest cover star of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, following his leading role in India’s clean sweep of trophies in all three formats of their recent series against England.Kohli, who made two centuries in India’s 4-0 Test series win before Christmas, including a career-best 235 in the fourth Test at Mumbai, is pictured playing a reverse sweep – a reflection, according to Wisden’s editor, Lawrence Booth, of the manner in which he has helped to revolutionise the sport in recent years.Kohli’s reverse-sweep adorns the cover of Wisden 2017•Wisden”It underlines the fact that he is a very modern cricketer,” Booth told ESPNcricinfo. “It felt like the right time to get some unorthodoxy onto the cover. People often think of Wisden as a bastion of orthodoxy, but cricket is changing so rapidly that it felt like the right time to reflect that, and Kohli was the right man for the job.”Kohli is the third cricketer of Asian extraction to feature on the front cover in the past four editions. His former India team-mate Sachin Tendulkar was honoured in 2014 following his retirement from international cricket, while England’s Moeen Ali was the cover star for 2015.Kohli is the stand-out contender to be named as Wisden’s Leading Player of the Year, an accolade that dates back to 2004, when Ricky Ponting was the original recipient.”Kohli will be fresh in the mind of all cricket fans after his performances against England,” Booth said. “He has pulled clear of the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and AB de Villiers, and is clearly the most exciting all-format batsman in world cricket.”However, Kohli has not yet been named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, the book’s oldest honour that can only be bestowed once in a player’s career and tends to reflect a player’s impact on the preceding English season.Kohli’s record in England does not yet match his overall impact on the sport – his only previous Test appearances in the country came in 2014, when he made 134 runs in five Tests at 13.40 in England’s 3-1 series win.However, he seems intent on making amends when India next tour England in 2018, and admitted last year that he would consider a stint in county cricket to acclimatise himself properly for the challenge.The 2017 edition of Wisden will be published in April, to coincide with the start of the English season.

Manchester United have made a new £50m offer for Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, however, it has once again been rejected, Sky Sports report.

What’s the latest transfer news involving Mason Mount?

The Red Devils and Erik ten Hag appear to be extremely keen on bringing Mount to Old Trafford this summer, with the England international having just 12 months remaining on his Chelsea contract.

Personal terms between Manchester United and Mount were agreed at the beginning of the month, but it has been a struggle when it comes to agreeing on a transfer fee with their Premier League rivals.

An opening £40m offer was made and quickly turned down by Chelsea, who reportedly want around £70m for Mount’s services. There has now been a further transfer update shared by Sky Sports.

Within the last 24 hours, Sky Sports have shared on Twitter Manchester United’s latest offer to Chelsea for Mount. It is worth a total of £50m, but once again, it has been turned down with talks set to continue.

“Chelsea have rejected a second bid from Manchester United for their midfielder Mason Mount.

“The deal is understood to be worth £50m. £45m guaranteed plus £5m in performance related add-ons. United clearly want the player but they do have a valuation in mind which they are unlikely to go beyond. Negotiations are expected continue.”

Will Manchester United sign Mason Mount?

It looks as if those at Old Trafford are extremely keen on Mount’s services, and with the player not interested in signing new Chelsea terms, you’d like to think an agreement could be reached over the coming months.

Dubbed a "mad player" by Red Devils legend Rio Ferdinand and a “superb player” by another reported target Kylian Mbappe, Mount would offer a versatile option in midfield as well as bringing plenty of Premier League experience.

Capable of turning out as an attacking or central midfielder and even out wide if required, the England international has made 129 appearances in the Premier League, contributing to 51 goals.

Therefore, he could play alongside the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro in a three-man midfield, providing the balance between the two United stars. As per FBref, Mount ranks in the 93rd percentile for progressive passes, 99th percentile for shots blocked and 94th percentile for tackles in the midfield third when it comes to other attacking midfielders, showing how he could offer plenty to Ten Hag’s side.

Chelsea have opened discussions over a deal for Everton's Amadou Onana, according to Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri.

Is Amadou Onana leaving Everton this summer?

The midfielder only joined the Toffees at the beginning of the 2022/23 Premier League season but has already made quite an impression in England. It was a season to forget for the club, as they finished in 17th place and only narrowly avoided relegation. However, Onana amassed 33 league appearances along the way and became an important first-team player for the side, working hard in midfield and bagging one goal and two assists along the way.

His showings also led to the 21-year-old emerging as a real talent when compared to other players in his position across Europe. For example, the Belgian's battling led to a rate of 2.17 aerials won per 90 – which puts him in the top seven percent in his position for that category across the Men's 'Top Five' big leagues. In addition, his 2.60 tackles per 90 has him in the 77th percentile. It shows that he is prepared to fight for every ball in the centre of the field and isn't afraid to throw his body around and get stuck into play.

Having shone for Everton, there is now interest in his signature higher up the table too. Man United are one side that have added him to their wanted list but a fresh report today from reliable journalist Tavolieri has revealed that Chelsea have now held talks over a potential transfer.

The Blues have also got Onana on their radar and have "resumed discussions" over a move for the player. With Everton struggling in terms of their own finances and potentially able to generate a £55m fee from his sale, the Toffees could end up flogging the midfielder due to an ongoing FFP battle and an "urgent need for cash".

Tavolieri said: "Chelsea FC revives Amadou Onana's track! The Blues have resumed discussions for the Diables Rouges & shown a strong interest again. EFC player open to a departure from Everton FC who -in urgent needs of cash- wants to recover ~£55m in the deal. It's still going to move."

When does Onana's contract expire?

Onana has a deal with Everton that only expires in 2027 and whilst they would no doubt like to keep the midfielder, it seems that with all the interest in his services, he could exit the club this summer.

Any club that does sign him would be getting an "intelligent" player according to football journalist Josh Bunting, who added that the Belgian is "comfortable" with the ball and is also "strong in the dribble," while talent scout Jacek Kulig hailed his physicality as a player "dominant" in the air and "tenacious" in the tackle.

With Chelsea looking to rejuvenate their squad then, a deal for Onana could certainly boost their midfield if they sign Onana.

Australia’s captain Steven Smith has declined to name Nathan Lyon a certain starter for the Sydney Test, declaring that Australia needed greater consistency from the offspinner

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG29-Dec-2016Australia’s captain Steven Smith has declined to name Nathan Lyon a certain starter for the Sydney Test, declaring that Australia needed greater consistency from the offspinner.Lyon is the most experienced member of Australia’s current Test side and the country’s most prolific Test offspinner of all time, yet this summer he has struggled for impact and has taken nine wickets at 66.66 during five Tests so far. In Pakistan’s first innings at the MCG, Lyon took 1 for 115 from 23 overs, his figures ballooning as Pakistan chased quick late runs on day three.”I’m not sure. That’s up to the selectors,” Smith said when asked if Lyon was an automatic selection for the Sydney Test. “He obviously hasn’t bowled at his best in this game. It’s always difficult bowling to lots of right-handers.”And they [Pakistan] play spin pretty well. It’s never easy bowling against subcontinent players when the ball isn’t doing a lot off the wicket as well. I guess we’re just looking for Nathan to be a little bit more consistent in the way he bowls.”Although the SCG has offered significant turn in some Sheffield Shield matches this summer, it is actually Lyon’s worst Test venue in Australia in terms of his bowling average. In five Tests in Sydney, Lyon has picked up 13 wickets at 54.15. His overall first-class record at the ground does not make for pretty reading either, with a total of 14 wickets at 64.85 from seven games.Australia are expected to name their squad for the Sydney Test on Friday, after the conclusion of the Melbourne Test, and Smith said there was “a good chance” that more than one spinner would be included. Left-armer Steve O’Keefe would appear the logical candidate for a recall, with Jon Holland currently sidelined by an ankle injury.It is not out of the question that the selectors could consider a spin-bowling allrounder, with Ashton Agar and Glenn Maxwell potential contenders, although the more likely scenario is to again include a seaming allrounder. Hilton Cartwright was 12th man for the Boxing Day Test, and could yet be considered for a debut in Sydney.That decision may in part come down to how the fast bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood especially, fare after the Melbourne Test. Both men have sent down more than 200 overs during the home Test summer and the short turnaround between Melbourne and Sydney could enter the thinking of the selectors.”They have done some bowling,” Smith said. “It’s obviously been a pretty big summer for them as well – six Test matches is always a lot. They’ve done some yards, which is a little concerning. But I think they’re pretty confident in their bodies at the moment that everything’s going okay.”At the end of this Test match is another opportunity for us to sum up where they’re at. They might not end up bowling much, or at all, tomorrow. We’re going to have to sum that up and see how they pull up after this Test match to see what happens in the next Test match.”We’re going to have to weigh that up. We’ve got Hilton here. We had him in here as cover for those quicks who had a big workload last week. They were confident this week of being able to get through and get the job done. It’s going to be about summing it up and seeing where they’re at after this Test match.”

The BCCI has been allowed to pay expenses for the first three Tests between India and England by the Supreme Court

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Nov-2016The BCCI has been allowed to pay expenses for the first three Tests between India and England by the Supreme Court but the board has been told to deal with contracted vendors directly and not transfer money to the hosting state association.At a hearing on Tuesday, the court said the BCCI could disburse INR 58.66 lakhs to conduct the first Test in Rajkot, which begins on November 9. The board was told to follow the same process until December 3 – the second Test is in Visakhapatnam from November 17 and the third in Mohali from November 26.The BCCI sought intervention from the court by filing an interim application on November 7, saying that unless it was allowed to enter into contracts the first Test in Rajkot would be in jeopardy. The Lodha Committee was asked to audit all the expenses paid by the BCCI.The board said it had approached the court because the Lodha Committee had not given directives after the interim order on October 21. In that order, the Supreme Court had told the BCCI to “cease and desist” from disbursing funds to state associations until they submitted a written undertaking stating acceptance of the Lodha Committee recommendations.The court had also asked the Lodha Committee to set a threshold value for all BCCI contracts and said that any contract above the threshold value would need the committee’s approval. The committee was told to appoint an independent auditor to oversee all contracts from the tender stage.After the order on October 21, the BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke had sent several emails to the Lodha Committee seeking clarifications at the earliest to avoid problems with the staging of the England Tests. In its response, the committee made it clear that BCCI president Anurag Thakur would need to file an affidavit stating the BCCI would unreservedly comply with the October 21 court order.On Tuesday the Supreme Court was told by the Lodha Committee secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan that neither the BCCI nor the state associations had agreed to comply with the court order of October 21The court asked the committee to appoint an auditor at the earliest, along with the set of experts including administrative officers and assistants, to vet BCCI contracts for domestic and international cricket, and the IPL.The hearing will resume on December 5, when the court will take stock of the progress made by the BCCI and state association in implementing the October 21 order.

Liverpool are reportedly "firm favourites" to complete the signing of Celta Vigo prodigy Gabri Veiga this summer despite heavy interest from several other top European outfits.

That's following a recent report from the Northern Echo, which claims that while Newcastle United remain interested in the Spaniard, Liverpool have the edge and could look to complete a swoop this summer following a lacklustre campaign that has underscored the need for fresh faces.

James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all depart the club this month upon the expiry of their contracts, and while Alexis Mac Allister has been landed from Brighton & Hove Albion for £35m, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is scouring the market for two further additions.

The aforementioned report states that while Veiga is contracted to his LaLiga outfit until 2026, he holds a €40m (£34m) release clause, and with Chelsea and Real Madrid among the lucrative pool of suitors, Liverpool could secure one of the most coveted prospects in European football by procuring his signature.

How would Gabri Veiga perform at Liverpool?

Anfield would only benefit from signing a precocious talent in Veiga who plundered 11 goals and four assists from just 28 starts across his first full season in top-flight football, described as "dangerous" by journalist Euan McTear for his exploits.

The Sky Blues talent already ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for rate of non-penalty goals, the top 20% for rate of assists, the top 12% for progressive carries and the top 12% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref, and has been hailed as a "gem" by Romano.

He has been heralded for his aptitude at driving the ball up the field in order to wreak havoc from just behind the frontline, which is evidenced through his previously stated metrics, and he could blossom into a world-class star under Klopp's tutelage on Merseyside, boosted by a burgeoning strike-force that could play to his strengths.

Namely, he could meld seamlessly with Cody Gakpo's skill set, with the dynamic Dutch forward demonstrating his prowess since signing from PSV for an initial £35m in January despite entering the outfit at a time of much strife, plundering ten direct goal contributions from 26 matches and earning acclaim for his "stunning" feats by Alan Shearer.

With the £120k-per-week ace tipped to flourish "in the [Roberto] Firmino role" by Richard Jolly, forward-thinking midfielders such as Veiga would see their game enhanced by such a vibrant and all-encompassing talisman.

Indeed, Gakpo ranks among the top 10% of forwards for rate of assists, the top 17% for shot-creating actions, the top 8% for progressive passes and the top 15% for successful take-ons per 90, which illustrates the selfless work that allows teammates to receive and increase of opportunity in attacking transition.

And with Veiga proclaimed to be "baby Kaka" by football content creator Rimedi, it's clear that the fleet-footed and adroit pair could weave between each other in intricate, sinuous patterns, with the balance and elegance of ballroom dancers and the nimble-limbed precision of a renowned sculptor.

It may well be a match made in heaven, and one that Liverpool's technical director, Jorg Schmadtke, must work tirelessly to achieve; it could be the inception of an illustrious new era on Merseyside.

With rumours abound that new Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is set to oversee a mass clearout at N17 this summer, the Lilywhites will no doubt need to find suitable, quality replacements for those departing assets in the upcoming window.

Having been lauded for his "exceptional" recruitment record at former club Celtic – as hailed by ex-Hoops skipper, Scott Brown – the 57-year-old will seemingly be hoping to enjoy similar success with regard to his incomings in north London, with the aim of improving a squad that missed out on European qualification in 2022/23.

According to 90min, the Greek-Aussie could potentially return to his previous employers in order to make a handful of key additions, with the report suggesting that there are fears at Parkhead that the treble-winning coach could return to snap up Reo Hatate from the Glasgow side, among others.

The 25-year-old midfielder has proven a truly standout figure for the Old Firm outfit over the last 18 months or so, having initially been signed by Postecoglou for a fee of just £1.4m back in January 2022.

With 27 goals and assists to his name in just 66 games for his current side to date, the Japanese maestro has simply been a "joy to watch" in Scottish football in recent times – as per journalist Sacha Pisani – hence why it could prove an astute move for the Spurs boss to reunite with the 5 foot 8 dynamo over the coming weeks.

What's Reo Hatate's style of play?

It may be of interest to Tottenham supporters to note that the former Kawasaki Frontale sensation is believed to share a statistically, similar profile to that of Manchester City's, Ilkay Gundogan – according to analyst Ben Griffis – with the pair both thriving in the centre of the park for their respective clubs.

Much like Hatate – who bagged nine goals and registered 11 assists in all competitions this season – Gundogan has also been a reliable attacking presence for Pep Guardiola's side, having contributed 11 goals and seven assists so far this term.

That stellar haul for the German international notably includes a brace in last weekend's FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester United, with the 32-year-old having previously been lauded as a "special player" by Red Devils legend, Roy Keane.

To be able to land their own version of the former Borussia Dortmund ace would then be a real coup for the north Londoners, as the club are arguably in need of a more reliable goalscoring presence in the centre of the park, with Rodrigo Bentancur having been the top scorer among his fellow midfielders with just six goals in 2022/23.

Hatate is also similar to the City star due to his creative quality having averaged 1.3 key passes and recorded ten big chances in 32 Scottish Premiership games, while Gundogan also averaged 1.3 key passes and created six big chances in his 31 Premier League outings.

Lauded as a "machine" and a "different animal" by pundit Kenny Miller, the Celtic man can also put in the hard yards defensively having averaged 1.2 tackles per game in the league, while the Etihad gem shares that willing work ethic having averaged one tackle per game in the top flight.

With Gundogan a player that can seemingly "do everything" – according to Guardiola – Hatate is also a jack of all trades, with pundit Alan Hutton previously stating of his talents: "He is all action, all energy, he is everywhere, tackling, scoring, creating".

As such, amid the chance to potentially acquire the latter man on the cheap – with the diminutive ace valued at just £6m, according to Football Transfers – Postecoglou must do all he can to push for a reunion.

Western Australia reached 3 for 186 on the second day against Queensland in Townsville

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2016
ScorecardCameron Bancroft finished the day on 88 not out (file photo)•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesWestern Australia opener Cameron Bancroft returned to form with an unbeaten 88 on the second day against Queensland in Townsville. The Warriors finished the day on 3 for 186, with Hilton Cartwright on 26 and Bancroft within sight of his first first-class century in nine months – a period during which he has played Sheffield Shield, county cricket and for Australia A.The morning began with the Bulls on 6 for 327 and they lost their last four wickets for 95 runs, with allrounder Jack Wildermuth adding only 4 to his overnight score before he was lbw to Simon Mackin for 93. Michael Neser managed 68 and there was some support from the lower order as the total was pushed along to 422.Bancroft and Jon Wells put on 85 for the first wicket before Wells was stumped by Chris Hartley off Mitch Swepson for 46, and Michael Klinger then fell to Swepson for 9. Axed Test allrounder Mitchell Marsh failed to grab his opportunity at the crease, caught behind off Neser for 14, before Cartwright joined Bancroft for the rest of the day.The Warriors will also be without fast bowler Jason Behrendorff for the rest of the match after he was diagnosed a stress fracture in his left fibula. Behrendorff bowled only 12 overs in the Queensland first innings.

Liverpool are homing in on their priority target this summer and are now believed to have agreed on a fee with Brighton & Hove Albion for Alexis Mac Allister…

What's the latest on Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool?

That's according to Football Insider, who state that the Reds have now agreed to meet the 24-year-old's release clause and will pay roughly £60m to clinch his services.

Signing a deal worth £150k-per-week, Mac Allister will enter Anfield with license to cement a central role in manager Jurgen Klopp's plans, with James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all departing this summer.

Manchester United are among the clubs expressing an interest in the World Cup winner, but it is Liverpool who are now poised to tie up a deal in the forthcoming weeks.

How would Alexis Mac Allister perform at Liverpool?

Anfield's imperious centre has been a rock steadily abraded over the past few years, with the once unrelenting, all-conquering Liverpool midfield now an inharmonious cluster of debris.

Cohesion was somewhat restored over the latter phase of the 22/23 campaign, Klopp's men constructing a seven-match winning streak in the Premier League before a twofold of draws in the final weeks.

Even this brilliant purple patch was not enough to salvage top four, and Liverpool now await football in the Europa League for the first time in seven years; with a fortified nucleus, the Reds could yet return to the top, and the importance of Mac Allister's signing cannot be understated.

The Argentine has been on Brighton's books since departing homeland outfit Argentinos Juniors in 2019, but this season he has truly burst into prominence and has posted a return of 12 goals and three assists from 40 outings for the Seagulls, also starring for Argentina in Qatar and scoring a goal and assist apiece, with the "sumptuous" assist – as described by Gary Lineker – served on a platter for Angel Di Maria in the final against France.

A tenacious and "intelligent" midfielder, as praised by compatriot Sergio Aguero, the £50k-per-week gem's energy and exuberance suits Liverpool's system to a tee.

His high-octane approach fuses with a crisp, deceptively effective ball-playing aptitude – he has completed 87% of his passes in the Premier League this term and averaged 1.3 key passes per game – and, as such, could bring the very best out of Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson, who has been somewhat out-of-sorts of late.

The Scottish left-back was branded "horrific" by writer Dave Hendrick for a dismal spell against Tottenham Hotspur in the closing weeks of the term, while the Tactical Times also tweeted to remark that Klopp's new "back 3 doesn't suit him" as he is "the definition of a full-back."

In their late-season resurgence, the Reds have implemented a new structure in possession, Trent Alexander-Arnold's inversion into the centre contributing to the central creativity; Robertson, who thrives as a bouncing marauder on the left-flank, has been left at sea and is struggling to acclimatise.

However, with Mac Allister entering the fray, he will have a midfield partner on the left side to match his pace and ease the burden of mixing increased defensive responsibility with creative flair.

It's the start of a new chapter on Merseyside after a forgettable campaign, and Roberton, who has been exemplary for his club since signing from Hull City for a scanty £10m in 2017, a centrepiece in the illustrious success, could flourish at full throttle once more with the rekindling of the Merseyside giant's dissipated verve.

Graeme Swann fears that England are on a hiding to nothing when the Test series against India gets underway in Rajkot next week, thanks to the ECB’s outdated attitude towards slow bowling

Andrew Miller03-Nov-2016Graeme Swann fears that England are on a hiding to nothing when the Test series against India gets underway in Rajkot next week, thanks to what he perceives as the ECB’s outdated attitude towards slow bowling that has caused both an alarming dearth of Test-quality spinners, and undermined the techniques of their own batsmen when facing it.Swann, England’s most prolific spinner of the modern era, claimed 255 wickets in 60 Tests and played a starring role in his team’s remarkable victory on their last tour of India in 2012-13. However, he believes that his success – and that of his former England and Northants team-mate Monty Panesar – came in spite of the system, not because of it.”Me and Monty were freaks of nature, we grew up in Northants where the pitches used to rag square, but I moved [to Nottinghamshire] because I wanted to become a better bowler on non-turning pitches,” Swann said during the launch of BT Sport’s cricket coverage.Graeme Swann on …

Moeen Ali: Externally Moeen doesn’t look stressed, but internally, I worry. At Edgbaston last summer, he had an awful game with the ball. The fields from Cooky were too negative and his body language was abysmal. He bowled about eight overs where not a single player went up to him to pat him on the arse, and have a joke with him. I’ve never felt more for a bloke in the middle.
We still perceive him as a part-time spinner, but that needs to stop. Look at how he bowled in his first summer against India, when he was all wide-eyed and excited. He didn’t bowl bad balls. But I honestly believe he’s been led down the wrong path by everyone he speaks to. The lack of positivity is alarming.
DRS: It was only a matter of time, but it’s good. Some of the funniest times in my career came when India were on the wrong end of bad decisions. I remember Suresh Raina got a howler at The Oval [in 2011]. As he walked off, the big screen showed the biggest inside edge, the ball had a splinter when it came back.
And it’s brilliant that they have brought in new regulations concerning the Umpire’s Call margin. It doesn’t take 50 percent of the ball to knock a bail off. Deal with it, batsmen, the game is all yours anyway.
Jack Leach: People say he didn’t get picked for India because he took his wickets on turning pitches. I am flabbergasted. If he can bowl and get wickets on turning wickets then he’s a good bowler. Besides, where are we going? Bangladesh and India. What do the wickets do, they f***ing spin!
Leach is an out-and-out spinner, but we’d rather take a good honest try-hard English spinner, 30 wickets at 40, who’ll never let you down. And it will be the same until we sit down and address it. It’s about convincing people that, on days four and five, good spin will win you Test matches.”

“We don’t take spin seriously in this country, and then bemoan the fact that we haven’t got world-class spinners when we go to the subcontinent.”We’ve got a bloody good team with bloody good cricketers, but we will lose in India because of what has happened 20 years before. We are hamstrung by the fact that we treat spinners as third-class citizens.”Swann’s own path to international cricket is widely documented. He was picked as a 20-year-old for the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa, only to be banished after a solitary ODI by the then-coach Duncan Fletcher. It wasn’t until Peter Moores took over after the 2007 World Cup that he was considered for a recall, and promptly picked up two wickets in the first over of his Test debut, against India at Chennai.”Duncan Fletcher did a lot of good for English cricket – he and Nasser Hussain deserve a lot of credit for helping the game become ultra-professional – but spin bowling always lagged behind,” said Swann. “The best thing Fletcher did for me was not picking me for eight years, even though he did pick guys who I thought weren’t as good as me. It actually made me a better spinner. I taught myself to bowl because I was unsullied by the system.”That system has made several strides in recent seasons, not least the change to the toss regulations in county cricket in 2016 which encouraged the preparation of wickets that offer more to spin bowlers. But, Swann says, that change alone won’t be enough to right a generation of wrongs. “You’ve still got 18 county captains who don’t trust their spinners,” he said. “It’s the English way. An over before lunch, two before tea and six before the new ball. That’s it.”For that reason, he adds, the fact that England have embarked on a nine-week tour of the subcontinent without appointing a full-time spin coach is a glaring oversight.”There is no sort of system in place to provide the backing that spinners need,” he said. “From the day they arrive in county cricket to the day they play in Tests, it’s not there. It is for batting, for bowlers, for fielding, for fitness, for nutrition … but not for spin bowling. And because of that, we are bad players of spin. It’s a whole melting pot.”To help prepare them for the tour of India, England have recruited the former Pakistan offspinner, Saqlain Mushtaq, in a mentoring capacity, but that appointment, says Swann, is little different to the piecemeal solution that Saqlain’s fellow countryman, Mushtaq Ahmed, offered during his day.”For me, Mushy was a brilliant sounding board and a mentor, but he only used to do 40 days a year. He’d be there for a couple of weeks, then he’d go home before the second Test. But there’d still be a nutritionist or a psychologist on the tour.”I know there’s only one of me, but it’s stupid. I’ve always bemoaned that, but until we take it seriously, we have to accept that when we play away from home in spin conditions we will be shown up.”That fear was made abundantly clear on England’s tour of Bangladesh last month, where they endured a near-miss in the first Test in Chittagong before succumbing to an historic 108-run defeat in the second Test at Dhaka, which featured the stunning loss of 10 wickets for 64 runs in the space of a single session.And Swann, who had to surmount some of the flattest conditions of his career when he helped England win their previous Test series in Bangladesh in 2009-10, said that the identity of England’s conqueror in Dhaka, the teenage offspinner, Mehedi Hasan, really ought to be seen as a wake-up call for the ECB.Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar helped England to victory in India in 2012-13•Getty Images”On paper, Bangladesh are one of the two worst Test teams in the world, but they saw England – a bastion of the game – coming out to play and knew exactly how to beat us, by having turning pitches, simple, and picking an 18-year-old to win it.”If that doesn’t set off alarm bells in the upper echelons of the game, then we really are pig-headed. It’s like that Blackadder quote: ‘If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through!'”In England, it will take you until you are 28 to bowl the amount of overs that an 18-year-old will have bowled in Bangladesh or India. These kids will have been bowling 30 overs a day since 11 to 12, because the conditions dictate that you can’t bowl seam all the day. It’s why they play spin better and bowl spin better. It’s like playing the piano. After you’ve done it for 15 years, you can bang out a decent bit of Chopin.”Consequently, despite confounding all expectations on their last tour of India four years ago, Swann sees few grounds for optimism in the coming weeks.”I don’t think we’ve got a cat in hell’s chance, seeing how [Ravi] Ashwin and [Ravi] Jadeja bowl,” he said. “Jadeja doesn’t spin the ball, he doesn’t try to. He just bowls straight and lets Ashwin do the work. Ashwin isn’t a massive turner of the ball, he rarely bowls his carrom ball, but he’s very, very accurate. Every Test in India he goes into, he believes he’s going to win it.”Watch the first Test of the Australia v South Africa series exclusively live on BT Sport 3 from 2am on Wednesday, November 3. BT Sport is your new home for Australia’s home international matches and Big Bash League, including the 2017-18 Ashes