Cook presses for spin-bowling coach

Alastair Cook has said that the ECB needs to give serious consideration to employing a full-time spin-bowling coach for the national side after the punishment inflicted on the England attack in India.

Cook observed how his spinners, specifically Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, had appeared more comfortable and confident when Saqlain Mushtaq was with the team as a spin-bowling consultant, a stay which ended after the third Test in Mohali and that had already been an extension on the original deal which had only covered the first Test in Rajkot.

England have not had a full-time spin-bowling coach since Mushtaq Ahmed ended his tenure in 2014. Saqlain was first used by England last summer when he joined the squad during the Test series against Pakistan and he has made a favourable impression.

“The coincidence when Saqlain was around and how much better we bowled as a group, that’s something the system or whoever needs to look at, in terms of our spinners,” Cook said.

While Moeen struggled ever to really gain a foothold in the series with the ball, Rashid’s returns certainly back up Cook’s view. Rashid took 18 of his 23 wickets in the series during the …

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