Graeme Swann has backed England’s inexperienced Test spin attack to succeed in Indian conditions, saying they have the potential to “roll through any batting line-up in the world”.

Swann was part of the coaching staff on a recent England Lions training camp in the UAE, acting as a mentor to the young spinners selected in that group. Among those in the training camp were Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, both of whom have been picked in England’s senior squad for their five-match Test tour in India starting later this month.

Speaking to the Sky Sports Cricket podcast, Swann said of the duo’s potential: “They can bowl, put it that way, and the guys that are on that trip in India, if conditions suit and they get the chance and they can handle the pressure of it, are genuinely exciting. Hartley and Bashir could be genuinely exciting on the sort of wickets that are going to be produced by India, or you think are going to be produced.

“They’ve been picked very much for that purpose and they could be brilliant. We saw things in Abu Dhabi that genuinely had me grinning like a Cheshire Cat and I’m very excited. They’re complete unknowns to the rest of the world so should they get the chance on the sort of pitch that we played India on last time in Ahmedabad, they could easily roll through any batting lin-eup in the world. I think it’s very exciting.”

Hartley and Bashir have been selected alongside Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed for the series in India. Neither have yet made their Test debuts, with Hartley having made his international debut against Ireland last year. Bashir’s selection in particular generated shock when the squad was announced, with the 20-year-old off spinner having played only six first class matches.

“The main thing I made about it was just what an opportunity these lads have got in front of them because they’ve played so little cricket, they’ve got so few overs under their belt, the lot of them,” said Swann. “They’ve not got the years of experience that spinners used to have, or used to be a prerequisite of getting in the England team, you had to have done it for years and years. Such is the game and such is the state of English spin over the last few years that they’ve just not got it.”

In response to being asked how he would solve England’s problem in generating experienced and high quality Test spinners, Swann said: “The first thing I’d do is I’d try and change the entire narrative that’s been going on for 15 years now. I get so sick and tired of reading about ‘it’s because of the time of year that we play, it’s because of the pitches we play on, it’s because this time of year is taken up with one day cricket’. I think until we switch that, and as spin bowlers, and as a young spinner if you’re starting the season and you know that you’re not expected to bowl, you’re not expected to take wickets.

“There’s no onus on you to become a good enough bowler to demand a place in the team in April and in May. That was never the case when I started, you still had to earn your place and be a wicket-taking bowler. Should a game go four days in April or May, you’d still bowl 25 overs from one end and be expected to win the game for your county when I first played. I think we need to get back to that, stop making excuses and saying we play at the wrong time of year and start flipping that.”

England’s series against India will start on January 25 with the first Test in Hyderabad, with the final Test set to be played in Dharamshala in early March.

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