England's spin succession must be at the forefront of their planning if their T20 success is to continue, writes Katya Witney.
England’s win over Pakistan earlier this week saw them qualify for their fifth straight T20 World Cup semi-final. By the time the 2028 edition comes around, it will be 12 years since they last failed to reach the final four. Only two members of the XI that began that run in 2016 remain, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid – England’s two best T20 players of the last decade.
It’s a mark of how central they are to England’s tournament fortunes that dips in both of their returns have been isolated as potential death knells for their silverware hopes. Buttler’s struggles have been more pronounced than Rashid’s – four consecutive single-digit scores and an average of 15.88 from nine T20Is this year. Rashid’s dip has been more subtle, but among a bowling attack still searching for cohesion, any vulnerability in its lynchpin feels magnified.
After one of his toughest T20I outings against Nepal, Rashid hit back with a belter against West Indies. Since then, he was expensive against Scotland while taking three wickets, and was targeted in a scare against Italy. His figures were impressive against Sri Lanka, but he came into the attack only after Will Jacks had run through their top order and six wickets had fallen. None of this is to say Rashid has had a bad tournament, but it is short of the key role he has played in England’s previous T20 World Cup successes.
In 2022, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes rightly took the plaudits. But Rashid’s spells in both the semi-final and final were critical. Before Marlon Samuels took the tournament away from them the last time England reached the final in 2016, Rashid’s stranglehold during the middle-overs put them in a winning position.
Rashid is undoubtedly still England’s best bowler, and as long as he wants in, they will have him. But, if England are to continue their successful T20 World Cup streak, there has to be some serious succession planning over the next couple of years, the kind that they have put off up until this point.
Two years ago, Rehan Ahmed was the obvious heir and he remains in the mix. Rehan has been a regular presence in England’s white-ball squads over the last year, but has rarely graduated beyond carrying drinks. Despite having made his white-ball debut three years ago, time is on his side. At 21, England have been hesitant in fully entrusting him with their spin requirements, despite his all-format success in domestic cricket over the last year, and his evolution into a batting all-rounder. Yet, the longer Rehan spends on the sidelines the less clarity there is over his immediate future. Keeping him on the periphery has opened up space for others who weren’t in the frame a year ago.
One of those is James Coles. The Sussex left-arm spinning all-rounder was the leading wicket-taker in the recent Lions T20 series against Pakistan Shaheens. He bowled the most overs of anyone, and was by far the most economical bowler from either side. Coles has been rapidly climbing the ranks this winter. Having earned his maiden SA20 contract with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, he was impressive with both bat and ball, especially in the Qualifier which put them through to the final. He scored 45* off 19 balls in the chase having already taken 1-15 off his four overs. There was a similar performance in the second T20 against the Shaheens, scoring 48* from No.5 and taking 4-18.
While he may be more of an obvious successor to the role Liam Dawson currently occupies, England’s policy across formats of prioritising batting depth gives him multiple pathways. It was that philosophy that underpinned Jacks’ Ashes selection, and while it feels unlikely that Jacks will start the Test summer as the incumbent spinner, the thought process may well stay the same. Coles took 20 wickets for Sussex in the County Championship last summer, and signed off with a century in their final match of the season. It’s not out of the question that it will be in the Test arena where his international path is accelerated.
🗣“This is currently his third very poor ICC tournament out of four.”
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 23, 2026
Tim Wigmore on Jos Buttler, who's scored one fifty against Full Member nations in ICC events since the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against India. pic.twitter.com/OwD2TidbEi
Quietly following a way behind Coles’ rise to all-format potential is Farhan Ahmed, Rehan’s brother. The role he has to play in what comes next for England’s cross-format spin attack still feels a way off. Nevertheless, England have started to bring him in. He was included in the Lions squad that played two first-class matches against India A last summer, but his involvement with the Lions has been balanced with consistent playing time for the U19s. It seems likely he may follow a similar path to his older brother, with early opportunities weighted with off-field development.
At the other end of the spectrum is Nathan Sowter, also part of the Lions T20 squad that faced the Shaheens. Sowter’s path to England contention has been unconventional. He was close to slipping out of the professional game a few years ago, but consistent excellence for Oval Invincibles in their title-winning Hundred campaigns has earned him new opportunities on the franchise circuit. Now, there’s the potential for international honours in his mid-thirties.
As a leg-spinner who combines being an attacking wicket-taking option with keeping a lid on the run-rate, Sowter feels like the most natural one to turn to in the hunt to fill Rashid’s void. Yet his maiden Lions outing against the Shaheens was underwhelming. He didn’t bowl his full quota of overs in any of the three T20Is and was expensive in the first two. With the requirements of T20 leagues and international cricket rapidly diverging, how Sowter translates his Hundred superiority to what England could require will shape how seriously he’s viewed as a short-term bridge.
Despite multiple options, England’s white-ball spin future remains unclear. Rashid’s brilliance and longevity has allowed the question of what the attack will look like when he’s no longer there to go unanswered. But, after this tournament, that question will be more pressing. Equally, England captains have been able to rely on their spinners, and Rashid in particular, as a fail-safe for the last decade. For the next phase of the Brook-McCullum era, how the identity of the attack evolves will be crucial.
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