BASHIR GETS LOAN APPROVAL
SOMERSET will consider letting emerging England star Shoaib Bashir leave the club on loan this summer.
Bashir was fast-tracked into the Test squad in India after just six firstclass matches and has quickly grown into his new surroundings, with 12 wickets in two outings for his country.
The 20-year-old has been identified as a player with significant long-term potential by the ECB.
But with his path to first-team cricket at Taunton blocked by Jack Leach – currently recovering from knee surgery but still England’s first-choice slow bowler – his immediate future is less clear.
Test head coach Brendon Mccullum said last week it would be “slightly mad” if Bashir (left) and Lancashire’s Tom Hartley – who has Australia’s Nathan Lyon in his way at Old Trafford – were kept on the sidelines in the county season.
And Somerset head coach Jason Kerr appreciates the dilemma.
He said: “We start the season on April 5 and I’d be surprised if too many teams are playing two specialist spinners, so I understand there will be some questions about it.
“There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge, but what I’m not going to do is stand in the way of anyone’s opportunity.
“We will always do what is best for the player and we’ve done it time and time again. We’ve allowed people to go on loan and get some cricket because it can benefit them and us in the future, and we’ve said no to players because they’re next in line and we might need them.
“We will look at each case as it arises but, historically, we’ve been open to it.”
Andy Balbirnie’s unbeaten 58 helped Ireland seal a historic first Test win as they held their nerve to beat Afghanistan by six wickets.
Ireland looked in danger of missing out on their breakthrough victory at the eighth attempt while chasing a modest second-innings target of 111.
But opener Balbirnie shared an unbeaten 72-run fifth-wicket partnership with Lorcan Tucker (27 not out) to steer Ireland home and spark wild celebrations in Abu Dhabi.