Six horrible months and a lifeline: Shoaib Bashir’s unlikely path to Derbyshire

Fresh from an Ashes tour where he was nominally England’s first-choice spinner but did not play, Shoaib Bashir has put a brutal six-month period behind him by signing a two-year deal with Derbyshire.

Bashir, 22, has been England’s premier spinner since the start of the 2024 summer, but since breaking a finger against India in July has endured a tricky period underpinned by deep uncertainty over his county future.

It became clear long before county cricket’s unofficial transfer window opened on June 1 last summer that Bashir was likely to leave Somerset, where he played just 10 first-class matches in three seasons. Despite being preferred by England, Bashir was rooted behind the reliable 34-year-old Jack Leach in the pecking order, with all-rounder Archie Vaughan’s off-spin making his route into the team even more difficult. In search of cricket, Bashir spent time on loan at Glamorgan and Worcestershire, without great success.

While searching for a new home, Bashir always had the comfort blanket of a six-figure England central contract, which expires in October 2026. This ensured that whichever county he represented next summer would effectively have him for free, as England contracts supersede county wages.

There was, however, speculation that Bashir could become the first centrally contracted player not to have a county, or that he could even drop out of the professional game entirely at the end of the 2026 summer. This was misplaced: right up until he signed for Derbyshire earlier this week, he had a two-year offer on the table from Somerset. The county wished Bashir well on Thursday, adding that he had “elected” to join Derbyshire.

In the summer, Bashir came very close to joining Essex, where he was seen as a potential long-term replacement for club legend Simon Harmer, who is back in the South Africa Test fold as he approaches his 37th birthday. There were also early discussions with Surrey, the county in which he was born and was a youth player, and more serious talks with Worcestershire and Kent. He was so regularly rumoured to be joining Warwickshire, the county of England’s spin coach Jeetan Patel, that his Test team-mates jokingly called him a Bear in the summer. Eventually, though, Derbyshire stepped in.

On the surface, Derby might look an unglamorous option. They are off-Broadway, and have been in Division Two of the Championship since 2013, and are one of just four counties to have never won the Blast. The last player to play a Test for England whilst on Derbyshire’s staff is Dominic Cork, in 2002.

Derbyshire are showing signs of a resurgence under Mickey Arthur, the respected head coach who has led South Africa, Australia and Pakistan, among many others. They are more stable than many rivals: they are debt-free, and have made a surplus in 11 of the last 12 years, both of which are highly unusual among county clubs, many of whom are in an unhealthy financial position.

On the field, they finished third in Division Two last season, missing out on promotion to runaway leaders Leicestershire – another unfancied county – and Glamorgan. Since then, they have made the prolific Pakistani wicket-taker Mohammad Abbas among the best-paid players in county cricket in a signing that looks a real coup and shows Arthur has some pull. In fast bowler Harry Moore, who spent the whole of last summer out injured, they have one of the hottest teen talents in English cricket.

Derbyshire should provide Bashir opportunities to play regular cricket, which Somerset could not offer. They have another spinner on the staff, Jack Morley, but Bashir should get early season game-time at a time when he needs it, with England’s squad – and indeed coaching staff – so uncertain after a desperate Ashes tour. The county get a promising young player who may still be a decade off his peak, and have to pay for just one of the two years on his contract.

Bashir is an undeniably curious case. He was plucked from obscurity aged 20 by England after Ben Stokes saw a clip of him bowling to Sir Alastair Cook in 2023 on X, and WhatsApped it to Rob Key and Brendon McCullum. After impressing on an England Lions spin camp, he was thrust into a Test series in India, and took an impressive 17 wickets, largely looking the part.

While he has been inconsistent since ousting Leach in 2024, his record is respectable at a tough time to be a spin bowler, with 68 wickets at 39. He is the youngest England bowler to take 50 Test wickets and insiders praise his professionalism and unflappable nature.

England groomed him for the Ashes tour in the optimistic hope his height and bounce could make him their Nathan Lyon, only to fail to use him at all in Australia, despite pitches that required a proper spinner in Adelaide and Sydney. This was partly down to Bashir’s form – he struggled for consistency on tour – and partly down to their struggling batting. They preferred the all-round package of Will Jacks to cover inadequacies elsewhere. At the end of it all, Bashir’s rapid promotion almost felt unfair, with England trying to shortcut the system.

Bashir’s 68 Test wickets account for an extraordinary 78 per cent of his first-class scalps, and he has struggled in county cricket, which is not a fertile breeding ground for spinners. He will hope a move to Derbyshire, which seemed unlikely a year ago, can re-energise his career.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]