England is putting a lot of trust in Shoaib Bashir to develop into an off-spinner like Nathan Lyon.
Though Bashir has shown glimpses of promise, his overall performance hasn’t yet been very impressive. His bowling lacks the craft and variety that stand out. Still, England’s faith in him remains strong, with the management backing the young spinner through series after series. They see potential in Bashir to become an effective off-spinner on the lines of Nathan Lyon.
Lyon himself revealed this plan by England. The Australian spin great learned about England’s intentions from the legendary English pacer Jimmy Anderson.
Last season, Lyon played county cricket at Lancashire alongside Anderson, where the two discussed this very topic.
Speaking at a Cricket Australia sponsorship event in Sydney on Thursday, Lyon talked about England’s spinners. The 562-Test wicket taker believes England’s best spinner is still Jack Leach.
“I played with Jimmy Anderson at Lancashire last year. He told me they (England) have Bashir in the team primarily to do what I do. It was a bit of pride for me to have someone like Jimmy respect what I’ve achieved in my career. Bashir has been performing okay so far.”
“Jack Leach is playing this Test (against India at The Oval), and it seems like Jake Ball will take on the spin bowling duties from Liam Dawson here. But to my eyes, Jack Leach is still their best spinner.”
Leach, who has 142 wickets in 39 Tests, hasn’t played for England in nine months. His last Test was in Pakistan in October last year, where after taking 14 wickets in the first two Tests, he only managed two wickets in a less effective bowling display at Rawalpindi and was then dropped from the side. Since then, he hasn’t had a chance to return.
In that series, where Leach took 16 wickets, Bashir took 9 wickets across three Tests with a more economical but less threatening bowling style. Despite this, England continues to back Bashir, playing him consistently in the next three series.
Bashir’s standout performance came against Zimbabwe with 9 wickets in the match, including 6 in an innings, and 4 wickets in an innings at Christchurch against New Zealand. Otherwise, his bowling has been fairly ordinary. In the ongoing series against India, he’s been expensive and ineffective.
After an injury at Lord’s ruled him out, Bashir was replaced by spinning all-rounder Liam Dawson in the Old Trafford Test. Dawson was also dropped for the final Test at The Oval as England opted to play four pacers. All-rounder Jake Ball, who replaced the injured Ben Stokes, will take on the spin duties.
Although sidelined, Leach continues to fight for a comeback. He’s currently the most successful spinner in Division One of the ongoing County Championship, taking 39 wickets for Somerset.
Despite this, Bashir remains England’s leading spin option as the planned main spinner for the Ashes squad this November-December. Leach took only six wickets in three Tests during the last Ashes in Australia. Earlier this year, Bashir was sent to Australia with the England Lions (‘A’ team) to gain experience, where he took only four wickets in three matches while conceding plenty of runs.
