On Friday (May 23), Shoaib Bashir became the youngest England cricketer to take 50 Test wickets.
Shoaib Bashir becomes youngest Englishman to take 50 Test wickets
On day one of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, centuries from Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope steered England to 498-3, before they declared early on day two at 565-6, scoring at nearly a run-a-ball.
One-off Test, England vs Zimbabwe
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Debutant Sam Cook got the ball rolling in the second innings, dismissing Ben Curran in the fifth over for six. Brian Bennett and Craig Ervine then put on 65 runs before Bashir came on to bowl shortly after lunch. The off-spinner got one delivery to grip and turn sharply to Ervine, taking the edge for Harry Brook to snap up the catch at slip, his second of the innings.
That was Bashir's 50th wicket in Test cricket, in his 16th match. Aged just 21 years and 222 days, he became the youngest English bowler to reach the mark, beating Steven Finn's record of 22 years and 60 days. The youngest player to do so overall is Pakistan's Mohammad Amir (18 years, 135 days).
Naturally, Bashir also became the youngest English spinner to take 50 Test wickets. This record was previously held by Derek Underwood, who took his 50th wicket aged 24 years and 46 days, back in July 1969. Overall, Bashir is the eighth-youngest spinner to take 50 Test wickets. This record is held by New Zealand's Daniel Vettori at 19 years and 134 days.
Bashir struck again for his 51st wicket soon after, forcing Sean Williams to inside-edge an arm ball onto his stumps to leave Zimbabwe three down.
Youngest spinners to 50 Test wickets, full list
| Name | Team | Age | Date |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 19y 134d | June 10, 1998 |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | Bangladesh | 20y 252d | July 4, 2018 |
| Harbhajan Singh | India | 20y 258d | March 18, 2001 |
| Saqlain Mushtaq | Pakistan | 20y 342d | December 6, 1997 |
| Ravi Shastri | India | 21y 131d | October 5, 1983 |
| Paul Adams | South Africa | 21y 135d | June 4, 1998 |
| Maninder Singh | India | 21y 197d | December 27, 1986 |
| Shoaib Bashir | England | 21y 221d | May 22, 2025 |
| Alf Valentine | West Indies | 21y 247d | December 31, 1951 |
| Narendra Hirwani | India | 21y 281d | July 26, 1990 |
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