Shoaib Bashir took his career-best County Championship figures in his second game for new team Derbyshire in day one of their fixture at Old Trafford.
Shoaib Bashir registers career-best FC figures outside of Test cricket
Bashir took four wickets in Lancashire's first innings on the opening day of play of the second Championship round of the season. After Derbyshire made early inroads, with both openers dismissed in the first five overs of the match, Josh Bohannon and Marcus Harris put on a 146-run partnership to rebuild the innings.
It was Bashir who was able to break the stand. He drew an under-edge from Bohannon, which deflected onto the stumps, ending his innings on 73. His next wicket was Michael Jones, who had put on 44 off 60 balls before he was caught and bowled. Diving low to his right, Bashir took a sharp catch after bowling a ball that seemed to bounce higher than Jones expected, leaving Lancashire 270-4.
He went on to dismiss Tom Hartley and Tom Bailey in consecutive overs. Hartley, who received his first England Test call-up at the same time as Bashir ahead of their series in India in 2024, was beaten by a floated up delivery from Bashir, which pitched on his toes and skidded on to hit the stumps. In Bashir's next over, Bailey fell to a ball which spun past his outside edge and hit his off stump.
He was denied a five-for when Zak Chappell and Ben Aitchison took the final two wickets of Lancashire's innings. Nevertheless, Bashir's figures of 4-76 were his best first-class figures outside of Test cricket.
Bashir made the move to Derbyshire after his contract with Somerset ended at the end of last summer. He struggled to get regular first-team opportunities with Somerset ahead of Jack Leach, and spent time out on loan with Glamorgan and Worcestershire. The discrepancy between Bashir's Test returns and his performances in the Championship have been a major talking point of his career. In the three first-class matches he played for Glamorgan last year, Bashir took two wickets at an average of 152.
Over the winter, Bashir was picked in England's Ashes squad but didn't play a match. Will Jacks was preferred over Bashir as a spin option who could also provide greater depth with the bat. Following the series, Bashir went to Zimbabwe to train with former Pakistan wrist-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, before joining up with his new county.
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