 Adil Rashid and Simon Marshall are both playing at Derby |
England's best young spinners will go head-to-head over two days at Derby on Sunday and Monday in a bid to unearth the new Shane Warne or Monty Panesar.
The aim of the programme, pioneered by Panesar's mentor and England spin bowling coach David Parsons, is to solve the country's long-term failings.
"Two areas we haven't been successful in recent times is batting against spin and bowling spin," Parsons explained.
"Hopefully we can meet both of these challenges over the two days."
So, how exactly can this scenario produce the next Warne, or provide the perfect partner for Panesar when England next tour India?
WHO IS PLAYING?
Yorkshire's exciting Adil Rashid, who took 6-67 in his Championship debut in July, will be the star attraction.
But the club's other leggie, Mark Lawson, is wanted by Yorkshire for their Pro40 match at Scarborough.
 | I'm not suggesting this will be the panacea to all of our ills but it will help us identify where the gaps are |
Two other leg-spinners - Lancashire's Simon Marshall, who has already made an impact in one-day cricket, and Durham's Moneeb Iqbal are also playing.
The best batsman on show will be Varun Chopra, who has established himself for Essex this summer and is also a regular in the England under-19 team.
Parsons says: "We've tried to select the best young players, generally aged between 16 and 23. Some of them have had first-class experience, others play regular second XI cricket.
"We want the best bowlers against the best batsmen to so they get a real feel for their game and can test themselves against their contemporaries."
HOW WILL IT WORK?
There are 26 players listed in all and three 11-a-side scenarios.
SUNDAY
Scenario I: Team A bat from a position of 110-1 in their first innings of a four-day match and a total of 35 overs are bowled. Team B then does the same thing, attempting to reach a better position.
Scenario II: It is the third innings of a four-day match, with the scores level. Both teams start from a position of 70-3 after 30 overs. They play out 35 overs again.
MONDAY
Scenario III: Team A are 70-1 after 15 overs of a 50-overs-per-side match. They then try to set a total from their remaining 35 overs. The other team chases that total, again starting at 70-1.
OTHER FACTORS
The teams will not start with new balls, but ones that reflect the state of the match in each scenario.
Scenarios I and III will be played on "relatively new pitches".
Scenario II will be played on an old wicket, used for Derbyshire's Championship match against Northamptonshire, which began on Wednesday.
WHOSE IDEA WAS IT?
"The original idea came from a conversation I had with [Warne's mentor] Terry Jenner some time ago," says Parsons.
"Between myself, Peter Moores and John Abrahams (ECB Academy coaches] we thrashed out the precise format.
"We just tried to be creative and think of novel ways to bat against spin and bowl spin."
WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED?
"I'm not suggesting that this will be the panacea to all our ills but it will help us identify where the gaps are to inform our programmes for the winter and future years," says Parsons.
"Certain parts of the two days will go better than others. We will look to do it again next season, and it doesn't just have to be a once-a-year activity.
"Hopefully we can begin to roll out a settled format to give to the counties so they learn something from this with their junior program and so on."
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