Englandjaybro wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:23 amSouth Africa are easily the worst side facing spin, and apart from Maharaj they don’t have another test quality spinner, I genuinely think a full strength Zim side could possibly beat them on a turning deck if they had some good warm up games prior and batted first.
Australia with Smith & Warner would do pretty good because they can play spin well & as CA mentioned they have Nathan Lyon.
NZ can’t be counted out because they have just beaten Pakistan in the sub continent, although those pitches weren’t rank turners. It’s true they have the least potnent spinners of the five teams mentioned, but as the recent series in Dubai showed the more the pitch spins the more effective spinners like Ajay Patel & Wil Somerville become. The thing the Kiwis have in their favour is their batting & strong team spirit which shone through in the UAE that’s why I’d back them over South Africa in those conditions.
England probably the strongest due to their collection of allrounders which gives them so many dimensions and options.
England
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
Zimbabwe
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Zimbabwe
West Indies
Thats my ranking with Australia and NZ switching spots once Smith and Warner are back.
Although Zimbabwe certainly exceeded all expectations in BD a few weeks ago, they didn't bat all that well against the spinners considering Shakib (lead spinner) and Nayeem (biggest turner) didn't feature in the series. The average innings total was only 261, and while thats fine for the Sylhet pitch it included the Dhaka wicket which was a flat batting track. What Zimbabwe did do was bat a bit of time, and even then it wasn't quite enough and ultimately, you've got to score runs no matter how many or few balls you face.