Ben Stokes has reassured Shoaib Bashir that he is still England’s number one spinner despite having him out for the second Ashes Test.
England have rolled the dice on their team selection for Thursday’s day/night clash at the Gabba, with all-rounder Will Jacks being called up for the first time in three years.
His combination of fleeting off-breaks, dangerous power-hitting and athletic fielding have seen him leapfrog the more one-dimensional Bashir, who has enjoyed undiminished confidence from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum since taking over from left-handed Jack Leach 18 months ago.
For much of that time they have talked about his raw potential and his willingness to make a splash Down Under, but after he was firing on all cylinders in the first Test in Perth, England have looked elsewhere again.
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While Jacks has been given the opportunity of a lifetime, Bashir has been released to play for England Lions in a four-day match against Australia four miles away at Allan Border Field.
It could be seen as a make-or-break moment for the 22-year-old, who faces an unclear future as he approaches the exit at Somerset, but Stokes made sure he swallowed the pill in a show of confidence.
“He knows that if it was up to us picking our best spinner, he would have played,” he said.
“Baz (McCullum) tells good news and bad news and I’m there for follow-ups, so it was something like that. We thought this was the best eleven for the conditions and circumstances of the game.”
“We tried to look at how we thought spin would be used and there was a bit of a tactical element to it – obviously with Jacksy’s ability with the bat, it’s useful for us to have that in the right order too.
“But if it ever comes to picking our best number one spinner, the selection would go the other way.”
Whether it ever comes back to that exact question depends largely on how Jacks responds to a second chance that seemed far away just a few months ago.
He has barely been in the Test conversation since winning a pair of caps in Rawalpindi and Multan in December 2022 as his white-ball career went from strength to strength.
Stokes will speak to the press in Brisbane on Wednesday
(Robbie Stephenson/PA)
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But Stokes agreed he now had the chance to forge a new path.
“Yes, for sure. He’s been playing so well in the nets and the time he’s been training here,” he said.
“Since he came into the Pakistan squad and started really, really well, he has developed into the cricketer I always thought he could be.
“He’s incredibly talented and I think he’s gone from strength to strength since two and a half, three years ago. It’s great for us to have someone who looks quite good coming into a big Test match.”
Jacks officially replaces the injured Mark Wood in the side, with the paceman lying low due to an injured left knee. He had surgery on the joint in March and has been walking cautiously with heavy ligaments for the past few days.
The third Test in Adelaide already looks ambitious, with the Boxing Day clash in Melbourne a more likely target.
“With Woody, it’s obviously a little bit of a setback, but he’s doing everything he can and the medical group is doing everything they can to potentially make him available for the final three,” Stokes said.
“We have a lot more time to go on this tour and we’ll see how it turns out.”
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