1 week ago
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Shoaib Bashir’s next career move will be finalised by the end of July after a dozen clubs showed interest in the first 10 days of county cricket’s signing season.
England’s premier Test spinner is resigned to leaving Somerset in search of consistent games at domestic level after finding himself behind Jack Leach and emerging all-rounder Archie Vaughan in the pecking order at Taunton.
The 21-year-old is one of two centrally contracted players whose parallel county deals expire at the end of September.
But unlike Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow, who is out of favour with the international selectors and nursing a calf injury, he is about to immerse himself in on-field matters.
Bashir’s advisers met with ECB men’s director of cricket Rob Key to discuss the issue earlier this week and hope to finalise a move that would prevent him from being farmed out on loan, as has been the case over the past two seasons with Worcestershire and Glamorgan respectively.
Since June 1, Lancashire, Leicestershire and Essex have emerged as favourites to sign a player whose County Championship wickets have cost 84 runs apiece, more than double of his numbers in Tests.
England Test spinner Shoaib Bashir is set to leave Somerset this winter in search of game time
Off-spinner Bashir, 21, was sent out on loan to Glamorgan at the start of the domestic summer
Former England bowler Jack Leach remains Somerset's first-choice spinner at the moment
But, crucially, Bashir would effectively cost nothing in terms of wages until 2028 given a multi-year ECB deal will be in the offing this autumn.
A return to his boyhood club Surrey was mooted, but they tend to field seam-heavy attacks in early season and Mail Sport understands they are fully committed to developing slow left-armer Yousef Majid as their first-choice spinner.
Lancashire have Tom Hartley, Bashir’s spin twin in India last year, on their books, but his batting ability might allow them to field both in the same XIs.
Similarly, Rehan Ahmed’s recent promotion to the top of the order could see Bashir accommodated at Leicestershire, a destination that would become more attractive should early season pacesetting in Division Two result in promotion.
Essex have the most prolific off-spinner in the country in Simon Harmer, but the South African will be 37 next season and this appears a decent juncture to start thinking about succession planning.
Bairstow is one of a clutch of players whose contracts are coming to an end at Headingley, but so far only seamer Ben Cliff has re-signed.
Having been appointed four-day captain earlier this year, it would be hard to imagine a late career move for the 35-year-old who is set for a lucrative winter on the franchise circuit including a switch to Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20.
However, Yorkshire look like losing all-rounder Jordan Thompson, 28, with a multi-club pursuit featuring a sizeable offer tabled by Warwickshire.
It is looking likely that former England star Jonny Bairstow will sign a new deal with Yorkshire
The midlands county have offered new terms to ex-England spinner Danny Briggs, but the most prolific bowler in the history of the Vitality Blast is mulling over his options, including a potential move back to Sussex.
The opening of English cricket’s transfer window has coincided with a scramble for seam bowlers as counties look to stock up to cope with the increasingly heavy demands of the schedule.
Gloucestershire face losing an entire attack, with rival clubs circling not on the basis of what their squad members have done so far but what they might do in the future.
Ajeet Singh Dale (84 first-class wickets at 36.76) is wanted by Lancashire and others, and Surrey are understood to be keen on his England Lions team-mate Zaman Akhter (60 at 41.8). Archie Bailey, who turns 20 later this month, appears to be Durham-bound after just three County Championship outings.
Josh Shaw, Oliver Price and Dominic Goodman have all been offered new terms at Nevil Road, but despite their confidence, Gloucestershire appear vulnerable to bigger offers from Hundred-hosting counties.
The same can be said for Kent, with fast bowler Nathan Gilchrist interesting Lancashire and other young talents including all-rounder Joey Evison and Tawanda Muyeye, one of the most aesthetically pleasing ball-strikers in the country, comparing renewal offers to what is out in the marketplace.
Kent star Tawanda Muyeye, one of the brightest county prospects, is weighing up his future
Two other players could follow Bashir out of the door at Somerset. Seamer Josh Davey is known to be seeking greater limited-overs opportunities and Durham are keen on turning Kasey Aldridge’s recent loan into a permanent switch.
Durham have a slew of young bowlers on their staff but face uncertainty about the future availability of Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood, and have had their resources hit by an injury epidemic this year, triggering moves for Bailey and the giant Aldridge.
England white-ball international John Turner will assess options elsewhere before re-signing for Hampshire, and Craig Miles and Jack Blatherwick could leave Warwickshire and Lancashire respectively.
County stalwarts Paul Walter (Essex), Luis Reece (Derbyshire) and Nathan Sowter (Durham) have all signed renewals at their clubs since June 1.
