It was interesting to hear the debate about spin bowling recently. Is it because the pitches have become so poor that anyone can bowl spin or is it because of a lack of role models for other bowlers?

When I first started out on my senior career everyone encouraged me greatly as the art of spin bowling was a dying art. Our role models were the mighty West Indies cricket team. The production line of truely magnificent fast bowlers meant every kid in the street wanted to bowl fast. If you couldn't bowl fast then you could bowl swing. It wasn't as scary as Michael Holding but pretending to be Ian Botham wasnt too bad. Nobody that I could remember wanted to be the next John Emburey or Geoff Millar. The reason I started slow bowling at 13 years old was Gerald McCarter at Foyle College gently pointed out that at my height it was unlikely I would achieve anything as a medium paced bowler. Running into the wicket as if I was being chased by a Rottweiler and delivering the ball roundarm with a flurry of tiny arms didn't seem to scare anyone. It didn't take a genius to work out I was wasting my time. ( How ironic to see Lasith Malinga bowling quick with a not dissimilar action!)

As someone who always encouraged the art of spin bowling I now find myself yearning to see decent quick bowlers in the leagues. Youngsters must be encouraged to bowl quickly. If they cant do that they must be encouraged to bowl swing and seam. Only then should they bowl spin. I would ask all groundsmen to produce pitches where you have to be very good to bowl slowly. Irish cricket is full of people who are dreadful slow bowlers who are deluded into thinking they are good purely because of the poor pitches.

Unfortunately it seems the easy option for kids to take up slow bowling. You don't have to work too hard and the bigger grounds especially in the NCU means you dont often get 'taken apart'. I think everyone at under 15 level now should be made to watch videos of the great West Indies fast bowlers and what they did to Mike Gatting and the Pakistan teams of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who were smashing metatarsals and helmets in equal measures. How cool would it be to be capable of that? Certainly more so than picking up wickets with your dinky dobblers.