‘The cycle repeats’: England’s troubles with spinners are leaving a generation behind

During the third Test match against South Africa in 2020, Dom Bess, then 22, became the first English spinner to take the first five wickets of an innings since Derek Underwood in 1975. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

It is the eighth over of South Africa’s first innings in Gqeberha in January 2020 when Joe Root tosses the ball to 22-year-old Dom Bess. Three overs later, the decision pays off.

With the final ball before drinks, Bess takes a return catch to dismiss Pieter Malan. In the final over before the close, he has Zubayr Hamza caught at short leg. The next morning, Bess removes Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen to become the first English spinner to take the first five wickets of an innings since Derek Underwood in 1975.