Ashley Fraser Giles

Profile:

By the end of England's tour of Pakistan in 2000, Ashley Giles had established himself as England's premier spin bowler. He bowls left-arm orthodox, with an easy, high action. He uses his height to generate both bounce and turn from favourable wickets.

His batting is good enough for that aspect of his play to be taken into account at selection meetings, much as was the case with John Emburey in earlier times. Neither could be counted as stylists, but both offer obdurate resistance and useful runs lower down the order.

Giles boasts a career first-class average of near 30, while a number of centuries and fifties in first-class cricket testify to his usefulness in the lower middle order or early lower order. He bats right-handed, and although not elegant is a powerful striker of the ball. He bowls aggressively, often flighting the ball, and his temperament allows him to weather punishment well.

Surrey-born, Giles represented the county at every level from Under-11 to Under-19 as a pace bowler. Back trouble caused him to switch to spin, and after a dispute with his home county who wanted him to continue as a pace bowler, he switched to Warwickshire, making his debut in 1993. With Richard Davis the resident left-arm spinner at the time, Giles took several years to establish himself. A hard worker, he spent several winters playing club cricket in South Africa to hone his craft.

After touring Australia and then Kenya and Sri Lanka with England A, Giles eventually made his Test debut in 1998 against South Africa. After taking just one expensive wicket in his first Test, he fell out of favour behind Phil Tufnell, ending up as 12th man, and playing a few one-day internationals.

A good 2000 season was rewarded with a Pakistan tour place, and he finished as England's leading wicket-taker in the series with 17 victims. He suffered some punishment in the first two Tests in Sri Lanka that same winter, but bounced back well in the deciding Test in the series, taking two wickets in the first innings and a vital 4/11 in the second innings as Sri Lanka were skittled for 81, paving the way for an England victory. He was rewarded with an ECB central contract for the following season.

Unfortunately for both Giles and England, he suffered a recurrence of a long-standing Achilles tendon injury and his availability was severely restricted. He appeared in just one Test, against Australia at Edgbaston, before undergoing surgery to correct the problem. It was something of a gamble on his fitness when he was pitched into the second Test of the winter in Ahmedabad without any match practice, but he responded by bowling 43.3 overs in the Indian first innings for a return of 5 for 67.

It was at Bangalore in the third Test that Giles attracted certain criticism for complying with what were considered to be negative tactics ordered by his captain by bowling his left-arm spin over the wicket into footmarks well outside the line of leg stump in an attempt to negate Sachin Tendulkar's flair. He could claim that the strategy worked in that Tendulkar was eventually stumped for the first time in his Test career off the bowling of Giles. His 90 runs had come from 198 balls.

After taking a severe buffeting in the first one-day international, Giles did not return to the team until the fifth match when he signalled his recovery with five wickets that won him the Man-of-the-Match award. He went on to contribute, though not as spectacularly, to England's series-squaring victory in the sixth match. In New Zealand on the tour that followed, Giles continued to fill the role of a stock bowler who gave his captain control and who chipped in with valuable wickets without really turning the ball enough to be a constant threat on good wickets.