SPIN LEGEND HELPS NEXT GENERATION - SWANNDERFUL TO BE BACK

England great Swanny set to mentor young spinners ahead of a huge test against India in the new year

- MIKE WALTERS

GRAEME SWANN is helping to mentor eight young spinners who could be pitched into the cauldron of Bazball's biggest test yet in the New Year.

After their dismal white-ball flop at the World Cup, England return to India for a five-Test series where the outcome is likely to depend on spin bowlers exploiting dustbowls and raging turners.

Swann, England's seventh most successful Test bowler of all time with 255 wickets at 29.96 each, is currently in Abu Dhabi with a 20-man England Lions squad eight of them twirlers in his role as a specialist Lord's Spin Consultant.

Up to three youngsters training on the Arabian peninsula could feature in the tour party, with Lancashire left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, 24, Sussex off-spinner Jack Carson, 22, and Rehan Ahmed, who made his Test debut against Pakistan last winter, among the likely lads to make the cut.