Legendary Australia National Cricket Team off-spinner Nathan Lyon has dropped brutal comments on the 21-year-old England National Cricket Team off-spinner Shoaib Bashir that could damage his career even before it truly takes off.
Nathan Lyon bluntly said that Shoaib Bashir, who is the first-choice spinner of England in Tests, is not the best spinner of the English team; instead, it is the 34-year-old Jack Leach.
At the age of 20 and with 10 first-class wickets under his belt, Shoaib Bashir was surprisingly called up to the England Test squad for the India tour.
He received his Test debut cap on February 2 during the India vs England Test match in Visakhapatnam. So far, he has featured in 19 games for the Three Lions and has bagged 68 wickets at an average of 39.00, an economy of 3.78, and a strike rate of 61.7.
Speaking at a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement in Sydney on Thursday, Nathan Lyon revealed that England are copying Australia's formula and trying to position Bashir in English cricket, just as he has been in Australia.
Nathan Lyon stated that this information was passed on to him by the legendary pace bowler James Anderson during their stint with Lancashire last year. He stated (as quoted by ESPNCricinfo):
"I obviously played with Jimmy Anderson last year at Lancashire, and they basically said that they're picking Bashir to do what I do. So I took a little bit of pride out of Jimmy respecting a little bit of what I've been able to do in my career."
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Bashir has been okay, Jack Leach is still their best spinner: Nathan Lyon
Lyon further labelled Shoaib Bashir as an 'okay' bowler and gave the best England spinner tag to the out-of-favor Jack Leach. He said:
"But Bashir has been okay. Jacob Bethell is playing this Test match [at The Oval against India], and he looks like he'll take up the spin bowling from Liam Dawson. But in my eyes, Jack Leach is still their best spinner."
Jack Leach was last seen in action in Test cricket during England's match against Pakistan at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in October 2024.
He was unable to deliver the performance that was expected from him on the Pakistan tour, and since then, he has been kept out of the team. In three Tests, Leach had picked up 16 wickets at an average of 31.43 while Bashir bagged nine wickets at an average of 49.5.
However, the England team management has shown more faith in the young Shoaib Bashir to handle the spin-bowling duties, and he has been given regular chances.
Bashir recently suffered a finger injury in the Lord's Test against India and got ruled out of the series, which prompted England to bring in Liam Dawson for one game at Old Trafford in Manchester, before dropping him and slotting Jacob Bethell in the XI for The Oval Test.
I'm not going to let my secrets out - Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon further said that the spinners will have a major role to play in the upcoming Ashes despite pitches offering more support to pacers. He elaborated:
"It is a massive role, and it can be a massive challenge for people who haven't done it in the past in these conditions. But I'm not going to let my secrets out so they come out and perform well out here."
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