Cricket World Cup: Aussies bring in leg spin help to get batsmen ready for big tournament

A fleet of leg-spinners have been shipped in to Australia’s training camp in Brisbane to prepare the batsmen for the supreme challenge of facing the men who roll the ball out of the back of their wrists at the World Cup.

Leggie Mitchell Swepson bowls to the Aussie batsmen on Friday.

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The cricket world has literally turned on its head.

There was a time when Australia may have been on guard for the swing and seam of cagey pacemen in England but next month’s World Cup has a different hue.

A fleet of leg-spinners have been shipped in to Australia’s training camp in Brisbane to prepare the batsmen for the supreme challenge of facing the men who roll the ball out of the back of their wrists.

Leggie Mitchell Swepson bowls to the Aussie batsmen on Friday.

Queensland’s Mitchell Swepson, South Australia’s Lloyd Pope and Victoria’s Tom O’Connell have wheeled away on a centre wicket surrounded by a net to prepare Australia for the changing face of 50-over cricket.

When Shane Warne made his debut in 50-over cricket in the early 1990s it was deemed a brazen move, but the game is now dominated by men of his trade and Warne is partly responsible for that.

India’s Kuldip Yadav, England’s Adil Rashid, Australia’s Adam Zampa, New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi, South Africa’s Imran Tahir, Pakistan’s Shadab Khan and Afghanistan wonder boy Rashid Khan are expected to thrive in the tournament, especially when the wickets dry and wear in the closing rounds.

Rashid Khan is sure to test all batsmen at the World Cup.

Captain Aaron Finch said last week he expected spin to play a huge role in the Cup.

Batsmen may be kings in white ball cricket but they also find it difficult to read the way the seam is rotating when they face the white ball.

This means that any bowler who can make the ball turn both ways can create that split second of caution or indecision which can make the batsman second guess himself and check his shot.

As a consequence of this leg-spinners are thriving, a fact which would have been noted by Australia’s selection chairman Trevor Hohns, a leg-spinner himself who has always enjoyed the work of men of his trade.

When the World Cup was last held in England in 1999 the brilliant Warne came to the fore and piloted Australia to a stunning tournament win.