Australian bowling legend Shane Warne has said that the biggest threat to the art of spin bowling comes from coaches and captains who lack the understanding of the art.
Warne, who is in Adelaide for a poker tournament, said the inability to set the right fields and an unhealthy preoccupation with dot-ball (no-run) bowling had placed his craft in jeopardy.
Warne is still trying to educate the next generation in a bid to revive the relevance of spin as a strike weapon, as Australia continues to seek his replacement three years after he retired.
"From where I stand, and I'm obviously very passionate about spin bowling, I think one of the biggest thing that we're lacking in Australia at the moment is the captaincy of spinners at domestic level," The Herald Sun quoted Warne, as saying.
"I'm trying to put something back into the game and have a role with Cricket Australia as an ambassador for the spin-bowling program. I go around to all the states and work with the captains and spinners about how to captain and set fields, encourage the spinners technically as well.
"We've got some really good spinners, but I think there's too much concern at the moment about being economical. They want to bowl 20 overs and get 1-50 - not go for any runs. I'd much rather see 4-100. The emphasis seems to be restricting runs rather than being attacking," he said.
"The mentality and attitude needs to change - from the captains and coaches. That's the biggest problem we've got, that they don't understand the game. So the spinners have to take more responsibility to understand their own fields," Warne added.
