England recall Derbyshire's Bashir

Bashir signed for Derbyshire in January and under the tutelage of Head of Cricket Mickey Arthur coupled with coaching in the spring from the former Pakistan Test bowler Mushtaq Ahmed, the 22-year old has started the season well.

Bashir has 15 wickets at an average of 37.60 in six first-class games for the county which is his most productive start to a first-class season in his short career. Arthur already commended his work before he even bowled a ball for Derbyshire.

Speaking on the eve of the first-class season, Arthur lauded the young spinner: “I think he so exciting, he challenges both edges and being only 22. I knew that we could provide him with the opportunity, we have a really good coaching structure here to help him develop and perform.

"What I've seen through training he's been amazing, we also have one of the best left-arm spinners in Jack Morley as well, I'm very happy in where we sit with our spinning department.

"Spinners only develop when they are 28, they are very confident then, which is why I'm excited to work with Shoaib at 22. The growth is going to be massive, give him the roots to grow and the wings to fly. The journey will be up and down, and that is how you gather your experience, the world is his oyster and he's truly a national treasure".

The young spinner has taken 68 wickets in 19 Test matches, however he broke his finger during the India series and struggled to regain his form. He went wicketless in his two outings down under, one against England Lions fixture at Lilac Hill in Perth and the other against the Australia A in Brisbane.

Bashir though, instead of moping around feeling sorry for himself, looked to improve his game and travelled to Zimbabwe, where the England Under 19 World Cup squad were based, to meet up with Mushtaq Ahmed to work on his game.

Bashir commented: “There's been a few things I’ve been working on and I’ve seen some good progress and made some good strides into it.

“I definitely feel like that period I spent with Mushy has helped me so much.”

There is a certain amount of irony that Bashir broke his finger at Lord's in the Third Test against India last July. It's at the home of cricket where he will look to utilise his spinning fingers to reboot his England career against New Zealand.

The last Derbyshire player to pull on an England shirt was George Scrimshaw in a One-Day international against Ireland in September 2023. However, Arthur and the whole of the cricket club will view Bashir's selection as a feather in their cap with the work they have been producing in recent seasons.

Not only will Scrimshaw and Bashir's inclusion lead to further scouts checking out Derbyshire's squad progress, they also have young spinner Joe Hawkins in the ranks who has featured in two youth ODI's to date, plus 18-year-old Harry Moore, who sadly will miss the remainder of the season with a back injury, as he did last campaign.