Well done to the Windies

Hats off to the West Indies for a fine win in the T20 World Cup. It was a tournament where no one seemed to give them real consideration as winners, despite the presence of several players who are star turns in the Indian Premier League.

Funnily enough, those names largely failed in the final, with Messrs Gayle, Bravo and Pollard doing little. The win came courtesy of one of the most improved players in the game, Marlon Samuels, a shrewd captain and underrated cricketer in Darren Sammy and one of the best T20 bowlers in the game, Sunil Narine.

Given the dominance of the West Indies in the 1970s and 80s with an attack of rare pace and hostility, there is considerable irony in the fact that they are now world champions over the shortest format because of a canny spin attack. Admittedly they were helped by wickets conducive to slow bowling, but it is no surprise that of the four semi-finalists three (include Pakistan) had attacks largely built around spin for the format.

It is accepted as the way to go in the modern game, always assuming that you have the bowlers to do it. I'm not sure that Badree is a world-beater, though he did a job, but Rampaul is a bowler of increasing variations and Narine is perhaps one of the best two or three T20 bowlers in the world. I'm less sure of his ability to get batsmen out when they don't have to go after him and his fledgling Test record is fairly ordinary, but Narine's long-levered off-spin creates panic in the T20. Last year's IPL saw him a standout and today he bowled beautifully. His ability to really rip an occasional ball leaves them wary to advance, while his variations are subtle and can only improve.

The likes of Samuels, Narine, Rampaul and the absent Dwayne Smith could and would all do a good job for counties in the English T20, but again, the likelihood of seeing them in 2013 is slim. Aside from the ICC Trophy, they have May series across formats against India and  July ones against Pakistan, so unless a player fell from favour, much as Wavell Hinds did a few years back, the chances of luring one to Derbyshire or anywhere else are slim.

Yet there are lessons to be learned in a competition where seam bowlers, irrespective of their pace, sit up to be hit with the slightest error in line or length. Just look what happened to Malinga today, bowling to a batsman in Samuels who was prepared to back himself in hitting through balls that were slightly overpitched. Spin is the way to success, making the batsmen force the issue and generate the power, often to their downfall. England Under-19s failed to recognise that in the recent World Cup, playing seam attacks who were meat and drink to good players while a talented spinner like Tom Knight sat twiddling his thumbs in the pavilion.

Next summer I think we will see a Derbyshire T20 side with two overseas batsmen, leaving the bowling in the hands of the domestic players. There's good reason to do so too, given that they were rarely collared this year. Such a side could - even assuming neither of the overseas players bowl - give you three, perhaps four spinners, with Whiteley as seam back up. There are any number of permutations, but given the increasing spin resources at Karl Krikken's disposal, it would be a surprise if we did not see them used increasingly in the one-day game next summer.