Bashir to strive for more after moment of history

ON SUNDAY at Trent Bridge, Shoaib Bashir became the youngest England bowler in history to take a five-wicket haul in a home Test — a feat the 20-yearold himself is “still trying to comprehend”.

- Cameron Ponsonby

Bashir claimed five for 41 to bowl England to a 241-run win and seal a series victory against West Indies with a match to spare.

“I didn’t have too much expectation going into it,” Bashir said. “I’m still trying to comprehend what’s happened.”

Bashir’s promotion to the team was the result of a hunch come good from captain Ben Stokes, who saw a social media video of him bowling on his firstclass debut last year and forwarded it onto Brendon McCullum and Rob Key. “Have a look at this,” read Stokes’s message. “This could be something we could work with on our India tour.”

Such is the speed of Bashir’s rise that while he is first choice for his country, he remains second choice for his county, Somerset, where he is picked behind the man he has replaced in an England shirt, Jack Leach.