Ashes 2025-26: Is England player Shoaib Bashir becoming ‘unselectable’ in Australia?

England lifted Al-Bashir from relative obscurity.

Stokes first saw him in action for Somerset in a video on social media, which he then shared in his WhatsApp group with ECB managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Not long after that, Al-Bashir was in the England squad and made only a handful of first-class appearances.

In 19 Test matches, Bashir took 68 wickets at an average of 39. He has an economy rate of 3.78 and a strikeout rate of 61.7.

His 2.35m release point is the third highest scored by a spinner, meaning he is likely to gain more of the slow bowler’s main weapon: bounce.

There is more to spin bowling than that, which may also partly explain why Bashir did not feature during the Ashes.

According to CricViz, Bashir doesn’t get as much drift and spin as Australia’s bowlers of the last five years, or indeed bowlers of that ilk in general around the world.

His natural length may also be an issue.

“During his Test career, Bashir’s natural length is around 4.67 metres, and he is most successful with deliveries in the 4-5 metres range where he averages 25.9 at 48 strikes,” CricViz analyst Srinivas Vijaykumar said.

“Australia’s average off-spinner over the last five years is 31 in the 4-5m range and are most effective in the 5-6m range. When Bachir got a little shorter in the 5-6m range, his average jumped to 45.4.

“While globally on the same schedule, the success of off-spinners mirrors Bashir’s overall numbers, the disparity in effectiveness in the 5-6m height range is not as great as Bashir’s.”