primarily bowler, but can bat

How come the majority of those cricketers classified as "primarily bowler, but also a capable batsman" are medium-pacers? That is, very rarely do we get spinners fitting that description. What is it about pace that gives them an edge in batting? I can understand wicket-keepers being or becoming decent bats because they must read the ball off the bowler's hand...but I don't see why spin bowlers bat poorly in general.


-----------------------------here are some pace bowlers who could bat
Imran Khan
Ian Botham
Kapil Dev
Andrew Flintoff
Manoj Prabhakar

Brian McMillan (S. Africa)
Chris Cairns
Keith Miller

Ray Lindwall
Alan Davidson
Shaun Pollock
Richard Hadlee
Trevor Bailey (known for "The Bailey Block" -- it earned him the nickname "Barnacle")
Wasim Akram
Malcolm Marshall (my hero!!)


and now we have
Irfan Pathan



We could even include
Ajit Agarkar
Scott Styris (NZ)



I did not put Jacques Kallis because he is primarily a batsman. Sobers neither, although he could bowl both pace and spin.



-----------------------------------But the cupboard is quite empty for spin

Vinoo Mankad
Ravi Shastri
Richie Benaud
Ray Illingworth

I am not including Mushtaq Muhammad because he was primarily a batsman. Perhaps Shane Warne deserves a mention.