Shoaib Bashir will have his first full net session in India with his team-mates on Wednesday knowing that if he is picked this week there has never been a better time to make a Test debut for England.
Bashir will be in contention for the second Test on a pitch in Vizag (as Visakhapatnam is otherwise known) that is red soil based, so drier with more grip and bounce for the spinners than Hyderabad. His chances rest on the fitness of Jack Leach or if head coach Brendon McCullum was serious when he talked of selecting an all-spin attack.
Picking four spinners, including a debutant 20-year-old, is exactly the kind of nonconformist move you expect from England and they will not be fazed by thrusting Bashir straight into the XI despite his visa delay giving him just a few days in India as well as the stress it all caused with an unscheduled flight back to London.
Bashir caught McCullum’s eye at the Lions training camp in November and director of cricket Rob Key described him as having “world-class” potential when he announced the tour squad. Stokes confirmed he was in contention for the first Test.
The players cheered when Bashir arrived in the dressing room on the final day of the first Test on Sunday and he has fitted in with the squad from the moment they met up in Abu Dhabi.
There is something about this environment that allows debutants to thrive. There is no hierarchy. McCullum and captain Ben Stokes want all players to contribute and press home the no fear of failure attitude, which is partly an attempt to recreate the comforting environment of club cricket when players played for fun rather than the pressure of England.
Hartley’s seven for 62 was just the latest golden performance by a player in his first game. Matthew Potts took for four for 13 on his debut, Will Jacks six for 161 in Rawalpindi, Rehan Ahmed five for 48 in Karachi and Josh Tongue five for 66. Jamie Overton hit 97 as nightwatchman in his one and only game for Stokes. Harry Brook fell for 12 on his debut but made hundreds in his next three Tests, immediately looking as if he had been around for years.
“I think the environment is one that everyone has a voice. You come into the dressing room and you see Rehan Ahmed practising pick-up shots over square leg, reverse sweeps, shadow batting by himself. Colly [Paul Collingwood] mentioned the environment was never like that when he played. It was senior players,” said Mark Wood. “Now it’s calm, everyone is on the same hymn sheet, what the captain and coach want. It takes the fear of failure away a little bit. This is how we are going to play, if it doesn’t work we will try something else, or we will try it again next game. The outcome goes out the window. This is how we want you to play, give it a good go, if you get hit for six, like Tom Hartley did at the start of his spell. He [Stokes] didn’t take him off, didn’t put men back, he continued that way and that sort of belief in him has made him think that the captain believes in us, let’s keep doing it and eventually we will get our rewards.”
There was a post on social media by Gavin Hamilton on Sunday after Hartley’s heroics that was perhaps both tongue in cheek and a compliment to how Stokes handled his spinner after his difficult first day. “Now that is how you captain a debutant – outstanding support and faith in talent,” he said. Hamilton played one Test for England, bagged a pair and did not take a wicket. Simon Kerrigan suffered arguably more.
Potts said on his debut there were “little messages, little votes of confidence, a pat on the back every now and again” that made it easier to relax. Potts took a wicket with his fifth ball. Jacks was brought on within 10 overs of his debut and felt confident enough to advise Stokes on conditions.
“I accidentally chucked one really wide into the footholes but it gripped on something and did a little bit, so I went over to Stokesy and said, ‘Why don’t we just try chucking it wide for two or three overs?’, and that’s how I claimed my first wicket.”
Hartley opened the bowling and was kept on for nine overs despite his mauling. Ahmed’s father was invited into the huddle by Stokes when he was awarded his cap to make him feel less nervous as England’s youngest debutant. Josh Tongue was reassured after a wicketless first day that he had done a good job. “Stokesy said at the end of the day, ‘Tonguey you were unlucky not to take two or three wickets, I thought you bowled really well. Good pace, good aggression’.” He took two in his first over the next day.
Bashir will receive the same treatment. “Bash has got a guaranteed five-fer if he plays hasn’t he?” said Wood.
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