It Was Good to See Ravichandran Ashwin Setting Up Alastair Cook: John Emburey

Though many remarkable scenes grabbed the eyeballs of the spectators at Edgbaston, Ravichandran Ashwin befuddled Alastair Cook twice which eventually holds a special place. Meanwhile, the former England spinner, John Emburey has a liking for it.

The six-feet 2 inches tall off-spinner showered heaps of praise on Ashwin for his brilliant display to dismiss veteran batsman Cook. He also spoke recollected his memories against India during his times.

It’s no longer about the line and length for finger spinners: John Emburey

The former off-spinner feels that the emergence of Twenty20 cricket made life hard for the finger spinners. He felt that the bowlers need to carry four to five distinct deliveries to tie up the batsman.

Emburey went on to add explaining how Ashwin bowls various deliveries during his spell to get the desired results.

The veteran English cricketer Emburey concluded by saying some deliveries to deceive batsman as Alastair Cook had been just remarkable from Ravichandran Ashwin.

“Ashwin bowls from the front of the hand, bowls orthodox spin, undercuts deliveries; he also has got the one that goes the other way, like a doosra. Ashwin has got varieties and a good change of pace. He has become a world class player. It was good to see the way Ashwin set up (Alastair) Cook in the first innings at Edgbaston. It was brilliant cricket leading up to that dismissal,” Emburey said.

 

“For finger spinners, it has made things a little harder. It’s no longer about length and line. It is about bowling four and five different deliveries in an over, and mixing it up so the batsman doesn’t get used to one type of delivery,” Hindustan Times quoted Emburey.

Indian batsmen are better than Pakistan batsmen: John Emburey

When asked to pick few of Indian batsmen during his times, John instantly picked Gundappa Viswanath, Mohammad Azharuddin. He feels that those two batsmen were best against the spin attack.

“Gundappa Viswanath, Mohammad Azharuddin, I have to be careful I don’t leave out any of them,” he smiles. ”Indian batsmen are better than Pakistan batsmen,” he added to his lines.

Coming to John Emburey’s achievements, he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1984. He was then the leading wicket-taker with 19 wickets in the 3-1 Ashes series win at home in 1985.

Currently, he is president of Middlesex County Cricket Club based at Lord’s and teaches youngsters to the traits of spin bowling.