It has been a while since Shoaib Bashir bowled a ball in an England shirt. Ten months to be precise, since a delivery that appeared to take on a life of its own snaked its way into the stumps at the nursery end, sparking Lord’s jubilitation.
That dismissal of Mohammed Siraj last July was not Bashir’s most aesthetically pleasing contribution in a 19-match Test career, coming as it did after being re-directed off the batsman’s body, but for its match-sealing quality arguably the most timely.
Bashir did not feature again last summer while the finger he broke in that 22-run victory healed, and was then overlooked for the Ashes despite having been identified for possessing characteristics suiting Australian conditions.
Although parachuting Will Jacks into an unfamiliar role instead was not a raging success, the policy of selecting an all-rounder to provide the spin overs is one that England are understood to be contemplating for the home series against New Zealand next month, with Leicestershire’s Rehan Ahmed, more of an attacking weapon than Jacks, slotting in at No 8.
Which would leave Bashir, 22, further developing a county career still in its embryonic days, despite his relative wealth of international experience, with new club Derbyshire.
Results so far, five rounds into the County Championship season, have been solid rather than spectacular. Amongst Division Two spinners, his haul of 12 wickets at 38 runs apiece is second only to Calvin Harrison of Northamptonshire, who has 13 at 41.
Shoaib Bashir has made a positive start to his Derbyshire career, taking the second-most wickets of any Division Two spinner this season
Bashir has not played a Test for England since dismissing Mohammed Siraj to seal victory against India on day five at Lord’s (pictured)
Mickey Arthur, Derbyshire’s head of cricket, has a reputation for developing some of the world’s best emerging spinners, signing Afghanistan mystery man Allah Ghazanfar and Sufyan Moqim, of Pakistan, for the club after working with them in overseas franchise leagues.
But after persuading his board to lure the centrally-contracted Bashir from Somerset, he insists: ‘I’ll be honest, he’s a better bowler than I thought he was. He’s young. He gets energy on the ball, challenges both edges and I can see what the England regime really liked in him.
‘What pricked my fancy with him was last year in the Test at Edgbaston when Rishabh Pant tried to take him down.
‘Bash held the ball back and Pant spooned the ball up and got caught. He changed his pace so well. I haven’t seen a bowler, without changing arm speed, that has such ability to change pace like he does. He is very talented.’
Spring cricket in the UK tends to be dominated by seam bowling and although the flatter surfaces proliferating the top flight of the Championship so far this season have redressed the balance somewhat, it is a time of year for spinners to show adaptability, playing second fiddle, particularly in first innings.
‘It’s not a hard thing to do. It’s just a mindset thing,’ Graeme Swann, arguably England’s best ever off-spinner, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘You just have to bowl in the right place and make the batsman play where you want them to play. The key is not to bowl like you’re a stop-gap, not just hold an end, but remain aggressive.
‘I don’t think it comes naturally to any young spinners and it doesn’t help that they are told all the time how hard it is.’
Given his sporadic appearances in previous years when he was farmed out to Glamorgan and Worcestershire, it is not one Bashir is familiar with. Continuity appears to have been beneficial in his learning, though, and his first-innings figures of two for 47 as Northamptonshire followed on 376 runs behind on Sunday took his split of first innings wickets to second to 10-2.
‘He’s fitted in so well,’ says Derbyshire wicketkeeper Brooke Guest. ‘He’s a really bubbly character who brings energy. A great person to have on your team’
He has settled into his new environment quickly, moving to Derby, where he shares a flat with team mate Amit Basra, and endearing himself to the rest of his new colleagues with his unbridled enthusiasm for the game, reporting for batting practice every morning, even on days off.
‘The boys love him. You hear him a lot in the field too,’ says Arthur.
‘He’s fitted in so well,’ adds wicketkeeper Brooke Guest. ‘He’s a really bubbly character who brings energy. A great person to have on your team. He creates a lot of theatre just by himself when there’s not necessarily a lot going on, and gets into the batsman’s head a bit.
‘He has taken wickets in Test cricket. He knows he’s good enough without going over the top with it, but he rides on that, which is excellent for us, and I’m glad that he’s on our team.’
Swann reckons Bashir ‘has definitely got the game, it just comes down to belief’ and that he is in a unique position after being groomed to play in the Ashes and then discarded.
‘They say you become a better player when you’re not in the team, but equally that also heaps pressure on you when you do come back and play.’
Bashir is not acting like a man with weight on his shoulders, however, as he develops a relationship with Wayne Madsen, a captain himself getting used to a different dynamic within Derbyshire’s attack.
County cricket is often dismissed as a grind, but a run of five matches in seven weeks has conversely ‘allowed Bash to get a lot more consistency into what is a very repeatable action, and experiment with his pace and angles,’ says Arthur.
Graeme Swann, one of England’s greatest-ever spinners, insists Bashir ‘has definitely got the game’ for Test cricket
The 22-year-old has made changes to his action and run-up this season after working with spin consultant Mushtaq Ahmed
One noticeable change is Bashir releasing the ball from mid-crease more regularly, creating a better angle outside off-stump – which should provide him with more threat when pitches turn later in the season.
Another is the exaggerated hop that makes him look like a dressage horse at the beginning of his run-up, something that appears to have developed since returning from working with ECB spin consultant Mushtaq Ahmed in Zimbabwe.
It is designed to provide him with the requisite amount of momentum into his delivery stride rather than rush him through, making him bowl too fast.
There have been times when, according to observers, this has happened. As was the case of this ongoing contest when Derbyshire’s batters gave him plenty to work with on the second evening.
With a total of 604 for seven on the board, there was a chance to drop down a gear and allow the ball extra time to dip and grip, but aside from one delivery late on that spun and squeezed off the inside edge showed the value of slowing down, Bashir seemed in too much of a hurry.
However, his third-day contribution was much more encouraging. Extra air lured George Bartlett into a lazy flick from outside off to midwicket in just his second over to provide the first of two first-innings wickets and he might have had Northamptonshire centurion Harrison caught in the same position on 81.
But the value of going down the gears was shown when he beat the outside edge of Lewis McManus, on two, with an arm ball. It was eventually a sharp catch at short leg that did for McManus, last out before the visitors followed on.
If his Ashes snub has effected him, Bashir is not showing it with his on-field body language
If his Ashes snub has effected him, Bashir is not showing it with his on-field body language.
Oohs and aahs greeted deliveries played off the middle of bats and those sneaking past outside edges alike, a nod to the kind of theatre that greats like Shane Warne used to create.
The greatest noise was reserved for late on the third evening, though, when Ricardo Vasconcelos’ two-hour vigil was ended by a chop-on from around the wicket.
It was not the roar that greeted his 68th Test wicket at Lord’s, but another significant moment in his bid to add to the collection.
