Scott stumped by spin twins

Murali Kartik's 20-over prowess helped Middlesex lift the 2008 Twenty20 Cup

No-one is more attuned to the variations of Shaun Udal and Murali Kartik than Ben Scott - but even the Middlesex wicketkeeper had trouble picking his skipper when they came face to face.

Udal bowled to Scott in a friendly Twenty20 match in Barbados soon after the Crusaders completed the Stanford Super Series in Antigua.

“I went out to Barbados on another tour and I was forced to face Shaggy,” Scott told ecb.co.uk. “It was a bit of role-reversal.

“There's no doubt he mixes it up really well. It’s difficult to find a four-ball option against him.”

Scott will be hoping his assessment rings true when Middlesex enter the second half of their winter as representatives of English Twenty20.

The Twenty20 Cup champions travel to India for the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League, where they kick off the tournament against Victoria Bushrangers on December 3.

Dirk Nannes, who took 14 Twenty20 wickets for Middlesex last season, is expected to open the bowling for Victoria, while his loan replacement at Middlesex for the Stanford Super Series, Neil Carter, was prevented from joining the squad in India by the tournament authorities.

So it may be just as well that off-spinner Udal and left-armer Murali Kartik have formed one of the most successful spin attacks in county cricket, sharing 26 wickets between them in 20-over cricket last season.

Kartik also took an improbable 5-13 for Middlesex against Essex Eagles at Lord’s in 2007, the fourth-best bowling analysis in the Twenty20 Cup.

“It’s the most experienced spin attack in the tournament,” says 27-year-old Scott. “I think our advantage is that they have clear plans of how to bowl in tandem.

“In Twenty20, once the two of them come on, you feel the batsman has to force the issue and play a big shot somewhere.”

Ben Scott successfully appeals after whipping a the bails to stump Daren Ganga in Antigua

Kartik has talked of his continued disappointment at being passed over for selection by India. The Tamil played the last of his eight Tests against South Africa at Kanpur four years ago.

He was also dropped from one-day selection despite taking 6-27 to help beat Australia at Mumbai in October 2007 - the third-best figures by an India bowler in ODIs.

Kartik was named in India’s provisional squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, but the postponement of that competition has left his international career in limbo.

It is a stance that Scott and his Middlesex team-mates find hard to understand.

“With Murali in championship thinking, you're always thinking something is going to happen,” says the Isleworth-born gloveman. “He has an identical action for three or four different deliveries.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to on the circuit agrees he's class and say he makes it look very easy.

“He’s definitely got something to prove. He believes he should be in the India side, and if we're honest, we probably think he should be as well.”

Middlesex may have lost all three matches in the Stanford Super Series - but Scott was behind the champagne moment of the tour against Trinidad & Tobago.

Trinidad captain Daren Ganga lunged at a delivery from Dawid Malan, and wicketkeeper Scott whipped off the bails, despite being airborne with both feet off the ground.

Malan, who joins up with the England Performance Programme in India, has been touted as one of the country’s most promising young batsmen. But the 21-year-old may be called upon to play a key role with the ball on the slow turners of India.

“Dawid bowling so much in Antigua was a slight surprise,” admits Scott. “Then again, he bowled a lot in domestic cricket back for Boland in South Africa. Whenever we’ve used him, he’s bowled really well.

Hampshire's leg-spinner Imran Tahir will be closely monitored ahead of Middlesex's game with Titans

“When (Ed) Joyce and Shaun have been captain, they've both had the courage to turn to him.

“He’s not one of our strike bowlers, but he lands it very well. The absence of a few players means we may have to get a few more overs out of him.

“Some of the Stanford and Trinidad & Tobago spinners bowled very flat, just like he does, and they seemed to prosper on those tracks. He could be quite difficult to play in certain conditions.”

Scott struck 754 first-class runs in 2008, including a career-best 164 not out against Northamptonshire at Uxbridge, as he won the battle for the gloves with David Nash and cemented number six in the batting order.

But Middlesex, in LV County Championship Division Two, saw little of Imran Tahir, the leg-spinner who came from nowhere to take 44 Division One wickets for Hampshire in 2008.

The Pakistan-born leg-spinner has acquired a South Africa passport and will represent Titans in the Champions League.

Tahir had a brief, seven-match stay at Middlesex in 2003. It was a unmitigated flop. He took just one wicket in first-team cricket and was swiftly discarded.

“It’s a strange one,” says Scott. “He did have a spell at Middlesex when I was at Surrey. From what I’ve heard he didn’t play particularly well.

“But he’s come back a storm and he’ll probably be a difficult proposition. We can't take him lightly.”