Ian Salisbury

English legspinners are as rare as West Indian medium pacers, so Salisbury has always been under pressure to take his prolific county form onto the international stage. He gets plenty of turn, but his line of attack - just outside off stump - is unthreatening, and his only variation, the googly, is telegraphed by a higher arm action. England have picked him on and off since 1992, usually after a long and successful period of county convalescence, but each time he has struggled to control both his nerves and his radar; in 1998, facing Sri Lanka at The Oval, he was even heckled by his home crowd. But he remains determined and likeable, and his batting, a mixture of well-organised defence and well-timed drives, is comfortably above the tailender category. Salisbury left Sussex for Surrey in time for the 1997 season, and prospered on the bouncier wickets. And in 1999-2000 he was player of the year in Sydney's grade-cricket competition. His spin partnership with Saqlain Mushtaq did much to inspire Surrey's championship successes in 1999 and 2000, but Salisbury's Test career came to an end after a desperate tour of Pakistan in 2000-01, where he picked up one solitary wicket for 193 runs. He continued to turn in solid performances for Surrey without ever doing enough to justify the gamble of a Test recall, and spent a season with Warwickshire in 2008 before returning to The Oval the following year as the club's second XI coach.
Lawrence Booth March 2009