Ashes | Bashir has been okay but Leach still England's best spinner, opines Lyon
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has given his views on England’s Test spin attack with the Ashes in mind. The 37-year-old great claimed that left-arm spinner Jack Leach remains the number one spinner for England in his eyes, even though Shoaib Bashir is the incumbent choice.
Despite Jack Leach playing his last Test in October 2024 in Pakistan, Nathan Lyon still feels the Someserset offie is England's best spinner. The Australian off-spinner downplayed England's primary spinner at present Shoaib Bashir, who has been preferred ahead of the 34-year-old left-armer by the management in the last few series.
The story of England's spin attack has been a complicated affair, where there has been a lot of chopping and changing to find the perfect all-conditions bowler since Grame Swann's retirement in 2013. Leach was the longest-serving candidate, with some promising performances against making him a regular 2019 onwards, but an injury during Shoaib Bashir's debut series in India paved the way for his ex-County teammate to take over as England's primary choice. Though he outperformed Bashir's nine scalps in his comeback series in Pakistan with 16 wickets in three matches, the selectors continued to prefer the up-and-coming youngster.
Bashir's performances in the series against India have been underwhelming as well, taking 10 wickets in six innings at an average of 54.10 and a high economy of 3.84. His only stand-out performance came with a six-wicket haul at Lord's, which also turned out to be his last hurrah in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as he suffered a finger injury in the same match. Liam Dawson was thereafter picked as the designated spinner for Old Trafford, before succumbing his place to jacob Bethell for the series finale at The Oval.
“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. 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,” Lyon said during a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement in Sydney.
England's next Test assignment is the Ashes itself, beginning in Perth on November 21. Notably, Leach is the only spinner amidst the current bunch to have played in Australia, albeit six scalps in three Tests does not make for impressive reading. Lyon, when asked who would be the perfect pick in the conditions Down Under politely refused to give his insights.
“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,” the experienced Aussie campaigner concluded.
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