Shoaib Bashir is set for a trip to Australia in January as England head coach Brendon McCullum continues to prepare the young spinner for an Ashes role next winter.
Bashir, who turned 21 earlier this month, was fast-tracked as first-choice spinner in the summer as McCullum began reshaping the team with an eye on reclaiming the urn in 2025-26.
But the ongoing series in Pakistan, locked at 1-1 as the teams swap Multan for a decider in Rawalpindi, has placed question marks over Bashir’s status.
He has been outperformed by his Somerset team-mate Jack Leach, the man he leapfrogged in the Test team but has failed to usurp at Taunton, with the left-armer taking 14 wickets at 26.50 compared to Bashir’s haul of six at 51.16.
McCullum still believes the 6ft 4in off-spinner has huge potential and is keen for England Lions coach Andrew Flintoff to take him under his wing in January, when the development side head Down Under for a red-ball tour of Australia.
“That’s something we can look at, definitely. For Bash, the opportunity to be able to get some experience in those conditions could be really vital for us,” he said.
“That’s the beauty of the Lions programme, you have the opportunity to be able to get some cricket into guys. With Freddie there as well now and in charge of the Lions, he’s got a very similar view on the game to what I’ve got, so there’ll be consistency of message and that’s something that we’ve got to look at.
“But I’ve been really impressed by Bash. He’s one of those guys who, on his day, can be an absolute matchwinner and, on the right surfaces, he’s a real handful. That’s what we’ve just got to keep reinforcing: he’s such an exciting talent.
“We said right at the start when we picked him, he’s not the finished product, but his ceiling is so high and we’ve already seen glimpses of that with his performances both home and away so far. I think he’s tracking nicely.”
After thrashing Pakistan by an innings on a flat track and being spun to defeat on a crumbling dustbowl, England are waiting to find out what kind of surface awaits them in Rawalpindi.
It will be nearly impossible to recreate the level of wear and tear seen at the end of their time in Multan, which was created by reusing the same strip back-to-back, but McCullum is on alert.
“It’ll be the antithesis of a green seamer, I would’ve thought, but that’s the way it is,” he said.
“I would’ve thought there would be a little bit more rough than we saw last time we were there. I actually don’t mind that. I think home teams should be allowed to have conditions that suit them.
“We were very realistic about how difficult this challenge would be and that there could be some extreme conditions confronting us at some stage. Winning the first Test probably hastened that process, but we have no complaints so far. We’ll see what Rawalpindi’s got to offer and we’ll try and adapt accordingly.
“We’ll try to find as many brooms as we possibly can, I reckon, to get the boys playing their sweeps and the reverse-sweeps.”