Sydney, July 31 (IANS) Australia’s greatest off-spinner Nathan Lyon has backed Jack Leach as England’s premier spinner, despite the recent rise of Shoaib Bashir, who is currently sidelined with injury and expected to feature in the 2025-26 Ashes tour.
Speaking at a Cricket Australia sponsorship event here on Thursday, Lyon shared that former England pacer James Anderson told him Bashir had been chosen to emulate Lyon’s success in Australian conditions. However, Lyon maintained that Leach remains England’s best spin option.
“I obviously played with Jimmy Anderson last year at Lancashire, and they basically said that they’re picking Bashir to do what I do,” Lyon said. “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. 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.”
The 34-year-old hasn’t featured for England since their tour of Pakistan last year, where he had a relatively modest series compared to Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who helped spin Pakistan to victory in the final two Tests. Despite that, Leach’s performance – 16 wickets at an average of 31.43 and a strike rate of 50.75 across three matches – was still significantly better than Bashir’s nine wickets at an average of 49.55 and a strike rate of 79.44.
Since then, England have backed Bashir as their primary spinner in their last three series – against New Zealand, Zimbabwe and India. However, after Bashir suffered a series-ending finger injury during the Lord’s Test in the ongoing series against India, Liam Dawson was recalled for the fourth Test in Manchester, marking his first appearance in eight years.
Dawson has now been left out for the fifth and final Test at The Oval, with England opting for four fast bowlers and using Jacob Bethell as a part-time left-arm spin option in his place.
Leach claimed impressive figures of 6 for 63 in his most recent appearance for Somerset against Durham at Taunton – a match that lasted just two days and was described by Ian Botham as being played on an “appalling” pitch. This season, Leach is the fourth-highest wicket-taker and the leading spinner in Division One of the County Championship, with 39 wickets at an average of 24.76, including two six-wicket hauls.
During the 2021–22 Ashes tour, Leach played three Tests in Australia, managing only six wickets at an average of 53.50. He was omitted from the final Test in Hobart, where England opted for four seamers in a pink-ball match. Notably, Australia’s Nathan Lyon didn’t bowl at all in that game, which ended in just three days with a home side victory.
Bashir, meanwhile, was part of the England Lions squad that toured Australia earlier this year, playing three four-day matches against Cricket Australia XI and Australia A. None of these games were held at official Test venues. He returned match figures of 2 for 91 and 1 for 109 in two games against the CA XI in Brisbane.
In the unofficial Test against Australia A at Cricket Central in Sydney – where the Lions lost by an innings – Bashir took 1 for 74 in the only innings he bowled.
Interestingly, Lyon was left out of Australia’s most recent Test, against West Indies in Jamaica, as selectors went with four pace bowlers for a pink-ball match that wrapped up in just two and a half days. Despite recent Australian pitches favouring seam, Lyon maintains that spinners will still have a role to play in future Ashes series at home.
“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,” Lyon said. “But I’m not going to let my secrets out so they come out and perform well out here. Our guys know how to play spin really well in this country. That’s probably what helped me produce my skill to where it is at the moment. I know I’ll keep trying getting better, and we’ll see how their spinners go,” he concluded.
–IANS
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