Spinning dilemma

The big cricket selectorial dilemma that faced England before the Ashes was whether to pick Ashley Giles or Monty Panesar.

The merits of the two spinners was based on a couple of premises. One was that England needed Giles to bat at number 8. The other was that Panesar might take you more wickets, but he can't bat.

This is not to criticise Giles, who has flown home from the tour to be with his wife who is seriously ill. But the stats show that this should never have been a debate.

Giles is a run-of-the-mill performer in test cricket. His 143 wickets in 54 matches is a slow rate. His bowling average is poor, at 40.6. And his batting? An average of just over 20 runs is not exactly earth shattering. If he was an all-rounder, it would have to be in the 30s to justify a place.

And Panesar? While his batting average of 11 is low, he will improve. Giles isn't going anywhere with his batting average. But Panesar's bowling is much better: 40 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 32.

Their strike rates are revealing too: Panesar takes a wicket every 69 balls, Giles every 85.

So what do England do? They pick Giles, which on average sacrifices taking wicket per match for adding 9 runs per innings. If England selectors think that each opposition wicket is worth just 18 runs, then they have another thing coming. This year, an opposition wicket has cost England on average 36 runs (7551 runs conceded, 209 wickets taken).

But is Giles a "big match player" as the England selectors have suggested? No more than Panesar. His batting has been solid when required, but he has taken 5 wickets in an innings just five times, to Panesar's three - in 43 fewer tests. He has four 50s to his name - but his highest score is 59, so these have not been converted into big scores. Scoring "important" runs or taking "crucial" wickets is hard to measure, but Giles isn't doing it consistently, otherwise his averages would be better.

One stat where Giles is the equal of Panesar is in who they dismiss. Only 25% of both men's total wickets are bowlers - three quarters are batsmen, keepers or all-rounders.

Their overall statistics are:

        Mat  Runs  HS   BatAv  100  50  W    BB    BowlAv 5w Ct St

Giles   54   1421  59   20.89   0   4   143  5/57  40.60  5  33  0

Panesar 11   68    26   11.33   0   0   40   5/72  31.85  3   2  0