England spinner Shoaib Bashir set to leave Somerset eyeing more game-time

‌England and Somerset off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has decided to move on from his home county once his contract expires this summer. The spinner’s decision comes on the back of his minimal game time with Somerset with left-arm spinner Jack Leach and off-spinning all-rounder Archie Vaughan being preferred ahead of him.

Though Bashir has been England’s first-choice spin option for more than one year now after making his debut against India in February 2024, he has struggled to get into the Somerset eleven. He had to join Worcestershire on loan ahead of England’s Test summer after playing just four Championship matches and a 50-over game with Somerset. 

The 21-year-old spinner had a similar short-term move to Glamorgan and has not been in Somerset’s scheme of things in the T20 Blast tournament as well. After signing a two-year extension with Somerset in 2023, Bashir has not signed a new deal with the side acknowledging that he needs to move on despite Leach’s impact on him as a mentor.

"It's hard to fit two of us [in the side], at the start of the year especially,” Bashir said of him playing with Leach together at Somerset.

Bashir has played a total of 16 Test matches for England picking up 58 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls, and was the Player of the Match in the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe with a nine-wicket match haul. Former England spinner and Bashir’s coach in the England Lions’ setup Graeme Swann also agreed that Bashir has to move on to evolve as a spinner in the long term.

 "Long-term, if the ECB can just say, 'Look, this is bonkers. He's the best spinner in England. If you're not going to play him, then you have to let him go and play for someone else,” Swann told talkSPORT.

With the transfer window for county cricket already opened on Sunday, it will be interesting to see where the young spinner goes with no teams having approached him yet.