Simon Harmer backs ‘absolute genius’ Carl Crowe to strengthen England’s spin bowling

At Newlands on Saturday, October 26, 2026, South Africa defeated Australia by 176 runs, with off-spinner Simon Harmer claiming 6 for 16 in the fourth innings. The performance delivered Harmer his first five-day haul of 10 wickets, earning him the Player of the Match award. South Africa’s victory propelled the Proteas to the top of the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings.

Harmer, who has spent the last decade playing county cricket for Essex, recently shared his views on England’s spin-bowling development during an appearance on the Sky Cricket podcast. He highlighted a critical gap in specialist coaching support for spinners at county level and advocated for the appointment of a dedicated figure to address the issue.

“I just think there’s a lack of spin-bowling coaches in England. I worked with Carl Crowe for the first time with Durban Super Giants in the SA20, and he is an absolute genius when it comes to spin bowling. He understands the game, he understands the biomechanics of spin bowling, and how he isn’t being utilised more within the county system, I don’t understand,” said Harmer as quoted by Cricinfo.

“If you go and you play against a county and the bowling coach is a fast bowler, and he’s there trying to help develop a young spin bowler. Now, for me as a spinner, I have certain transferable things that I could probably say to a fast bowler, but I certainly don’t know how to make that bowler better or how to develop that bowler,” he added.

Who are the spinners Harmer believes are ready for England?

England’s current roster includes several spinners capable of international cricket, yet their development remains inconsistent outside the national team environment. Harmer pointed to the gap between county-level support and the demands of Test cricket, emphasising the need for structured guidance.

Richard Dawson has been appointed as the ECB’s elite national spin bowling lead and will serve as one of Stephen Fleming’s assistant coaches in England’s Test team. Jeetan Patel, who previously worked with England spinners, is no longer involved in the Test set-up but remains one of Brendon McCullum’s white-ball assistants.

“It’s something that needs to be looked at because if you look at Jack Leach, Dom Bess, Shoaib Bashir, Jack Carson, they are all good enough to play international cricket. But how are these guys being developed when they are not with the England national team?,” said Harmer.

“You’ve got Jeetan Patel who’s working with the spinners there, but I haven’t seen him working with spinners at a county game or coming to watch. I just think it’s something that needs to be looked at. And what happens is that England will wait until they don’t have any spinners and then they will start to try and problem-solve instead of being proactive. Again, it’s not because there aren’t enough good spinners in England. There are plenty, but they just don’t have the tools necessary to upskill,” he added.

What is the current state of England’s spin-bowling structure?

Stephen Fleming recently hinted that England would plan to pick four seamers and rely on part-time spin in South Africa next month. Shoaib Bashir was recently awarded a new central contract, while Mason Crane and Liam Patterson-White were handed development deals. Harmer’s experience with Crowe came during the SA20 earlier in 2026 when both worked with Durban Super Giants. Crowe, a renowned spin-bowling coach, has been involved with the three Super Giants franchises and previously served as an assistant coach at Lancashire.

“For me, Jack Leach would be the guy. If you are going to play a spinner at those venues [The Wanderers, SuperSport Park and Newlands], you need, in the first innings, somebody who can hold from one end so that your seamers can rotate and attack, and come and bowl four overs of aggressive fast bowling,” said Harmer.

“I know Marcus North was on a podcast saying that they’re moving away from him, but I don’t understand [why]. I’m sure the chats are, ‘Well, he doesn’t bowl teams out on day five.’ But the amount of control that he gives you… I just think at the venues that South Africa’s hosting England, if you are going to take a spinner, he is probably your guy,” he added.