Shoaib Bashir has been reassured that he remains England’s first-pick spinner, despite Will Jacks being selected instead for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane. On the eve of the game Ben Stokes said that the decision had been made because of the unique challenges of a day-night match at the Gabba and Jacks’s greater quality with the bat, but that “if it comes down to picking our best spinner, [Bashir] is the man”.
“We tried to look at how we thought spin was going to be used, and there was a bit of a tactical element to it,” Stokes said. “Obviously Jacksy’s ability with the bat, to have that down the order for us is useful as well. But if it ever comes down to picking our best, No 1 spinner, selection will go the other way. We thought this was the best XI for the conditions and the circumstances of the game, but he knows that if it comes down to picking our best spinner, he’s the man.”
Bashir will play for the Lions in their unofficial Test against Australia A that starts in Brisbane on Friday. Jacob Bethell will also be getting match practice in the game.
Jacks has been selected in place of Mark Wood in the only change to the team that lost the first Test in Perth inside two days. Wood has been sidelined because of soreness in the left knee that required surgery earlier this year, but remains with the squad and hopes to play some part in the last three games, with the third match in Adelaide still a fortnight away.
“It’s obviously a little bit of a setback, but we’re doing everything we can and the medical group are doing everything they can to try and get him to potentially be available for selection in the last three,” Stokes said. “We’ve got a lot more time to go on this tour and we’ll just see how things play out with that.”
Quick GuideTeams for second Test
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England (confirmed): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
Australia (possible): Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendon Doggett, Nathan Lyon
Stokes also paid tribute to Robin Smith as he spoke for the first time since the former England batter’s death was made public. “I didn’t know him overly well but I knew quite a lot of people who did know him very well, who played a lot of cricket with him, and the same thing kept on coming up, which was just that he was an absolute belter of a bloke,” Stokes said.
“He was around in Perth and he spoke to the Lions. News like that hits you a bit harder when you know that just last week he was there chatting with the Lions, that he was at the game, talking to people and going into quite a lot of detail about his life and opening up quite a lot. It hits a bit harder when you realise it was only a week ago he was doing those kinds of things.”
