‘It’s sad’: Peter Taylor laments first SCG Test spin snub in 138 years

2 months ago 17

Former Australian spin bowler and selector Peter Taylor has declared Test cricket in Australia is poorer for the decline of slow bowling opportunities on grassy pitches, on the day the home side snubbed specialist spin at the SCG for the first time since 1888.

In 1987, Taylor delivered one of the most storied debuts in Australian cricket history, winning an Ashes Test match on an SCG pitch that was ideally united to his art.

Peter Taylor during his Test debut at the SCG in 1987.

In 2026, Taylor was on hand to see his fellow off-spinner Todd Murphy left out of the side, the fourth time in Australia’s past six Tests they have ignored spin.

“It’s sad. As a principle in Test cricket you want the long game, and spinners are so important to the long game,” Taylor told this masthead as a guest of Cricket NSW in the Steve Waugh Room on day one, 39 years after his Test debut here. “If I was Steve Smith I’d like to have a quality spinner.

“It’s the coming together of a whole heap of things. Fast bowlers do take more wickets than spinners in Sydney, but it’s nice to have the option when the wicket gets a bit low and slow.”

Taylor served as a national selector for two summers in the 1990s when Shane Warne was at his best, pitches were dry, and the inclusion of a second slow bowler – Tim May or Peter McIntyre – was often considered.

“To me the fundamental formula of a balanced cricket team has not changed,” Taylor said. “Even if you go to Perth or the Gabba, it’s still nice to have that option. As a selector we always tried to have that – three quality fast bowlers, a spinner and a good allrounder. That really should be enough to win a game.

“But if you don’t have the spinner, it’s one more thing you can’t do. I’m watching this game and thinking halfway through this session and we haven’t taken a wicket, wouldn’t it be nice for the captain to have a spinner. Even if it’s not going to turn square, it’s just a change, and you need to have that balance.”

In January 1987, Taylor’s famous Test debut at the SCG was a high point in a poor summer for Australia. Paired with wrist spinner Peter Sleep, Taylor took eight wickets and made a determined 42 in the second innings as Allan Border’s team won a thrilling game with one over remaining. That sort of contest is the kind that CA’s commercial wing, led by chief executive Todd Greenberg, would like to see return.

“When I played back in 1987, the SCG wicket was fast and bouncy and had turn, so it was beautiful to bowl on,” Taylor said. “Then we went through a period in my time when it got very flat and featherbed-like.

“You don’t have to be Einstein to work out why it’s important in the commercial sense. You want a game to go four or five days, that’s the first thing. But it’s also that we want to have variety in the game. The West Indies had four big fast bowlers running in all day, it was very slow and all those kinds of things. That was one of the arguments for why we need spinners.

“It’s like a good opening batsman. Some of them can be a bit boring, but that’s their job, and Test cricket is a chess game.”

As for Nathan Lyon, who was unavailable for interviews on Sunday, Taylor said he hoped to see the gifted 38-year-old back in action in Test matches again.

Lyon tore a hamstring during the Adelaide Test.

“He’s very, very good,” Taylor said. “When the Adelaide Test was on, as soon as he came on to bowl, the game was different. Just a shame he’s 38 now.

“Nathan’s bowled thousands of overs, but technically, he’s so good. He can get movement on the flattest surface, and he only needs to turn it a little. I hope we see him again.”

Former Adelaide Oval curator Les Burdett has counselled turf managers across the country to allow for pitches to deteriorate and spin.

“I think the guys have just got to get the lawnmowers out,” Burdett told this masthead. “The only way to get spin bowlers into the game is you’ve got to expose the soil. If you’ve got a wad of grass on the top, how do you expose the soil. All my pitches I could tap with my hand and feel the soil.

“When I look at the cutting height when I started at Adelaide Oval, we were cutting pitches at 2mm. By the time I left I was cutting it about 5mm. Any higher than that I was unsure what the hell’s going on.”

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