Shoaib Bashir has become one of the more intriguing subplots of England’s car crash of an Ashes tour: present, discussed, but so far untouched.
The off-spinner is an untested theory, an idea, or even a hunch. A high release point, yet to actually release a meaningful Ashes delivery.
The 22-year-old has again been left out of England’s side for the fourth Test in Melbourne starting on 26 December.
“They have got themselves into this no-win situation where Bashir’s now become sort of unselectable and that’s not a good thing,” former England spinner Phil Tufnell told the Test Match Special podcast.
“If you are ever going to pick a spinner and he is your specialist spinner then he surely had to play at Adelaide [in the third Test] and they didn’t play him. You have got to pick him, otherwise why is he here?
“If I was Shoaib Bashir, I would have been absolutely fuming.”
Poor figures, positive body language
Bashir has played some cricket on the tour, having returned to action following a broken finger on his left hand during the English summer.
He featured in a much-derided intra-squad affair at Lilac Hill in Perth before the series started, bowling for both England and the Lions side.
He finished with a largely underwhelming 2-151.
That was followed by another outing for the Lions against Australia A at Allan Border Field in Brisbane where he ended with figures of 0-115.
Unflattering returns but Bashir’s stoicism has ensured he has not been overly affected by the noise surrounding his non-selection.
His body language around the England camp is said to have remained positive.
One of the reasons he is so liked by England’s management is his calm persona. Even though he has been whacked by batters in the nets during this tour he looks to have philosophically taken it in his stride.
England captain Ben Stokes previously said that Bashir is his side’s number-one spinner, and a preference for Will Jacks’ part-time spin has been “tactical”.
Bowling coach Jeetan Patel was drinking the Kool-Aid when it was put to him Bashir had become unselectable during the third Test in Adelaide.
“Absolutely not,” Patel said. “Bash is bowing fine. He’s where he’s supposed to be in terms of this series.”