County reserve is England's 'special talent' - Bashir tweaks pay off

It is an unprecedented situation.

A spinner who cannot get in his county team - so much so he was sent out on loan last month - picking up wickets, and a man-of-the-match award, for England.

Shoaib Bashir took six wickets on the third day of England's victory over Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, giving him nine in the match.

In doing so he continued to repay the faith shown in him by captain Ben Stokes.

"Too many people talk about his county record," former England captain Michael Vaughan said on the BBC's Today at the Test. "This is his team.

"England got hold of him a couple of years ago and threw him into the set-up.

"He has not got a great record in county cricket because he has not got a team.

"Ben Stokes is his captain and whenever Ben Stokes is stood beside him he has very rarely let England down."

Stokes revealed before the Test he had called Bashir to reassure him after a difficult start to the campaign.

The off-spinner was plucked from relative obscurity to play India last year – he famously caught Stokes' eye through a clip on social media – and has been England's first-choice spinner since after taking 17 wickets in three matches.

But the 21-year-old's county, Somerset, prefer the man he has replaced in the England XI – the more experienced left-spinner Jack Leach - and as a result Bashir was sent out on loan to Glamorgan, where he played three matches and took two wickets at an average of 152.

"I went on loan to Glamorgan at the start of the season, just to get some overs under my belt," Bashir told BBC Test Match Special.

"It was nice to join up with the England boys and bowl in front of an English crowd.

"The boys and backroom staff make you feel 10-foot tall. When you are so well backed you can go and express yourself."

Bashir's wickets in Nottingham took him to 58 in Tests and made him the youngest bowler to take 50 for England in the format.

Even in the international arena, forgetting the selection decisions in Taunton, his progress has not been straightforward, however.

His eight wickets in three Tests in New Zealand last year came at an average of 52, while in the first Test against Pakistan in Multan last year he returned figures of 1-156.

But while Bashir can sometimes struggle to control his lengths, too often gifting loose deliveries, England value his raw attributes - in particular his height and subsequent bounce, plus his ability to bowl wicket-taking deliveries.

"The skill is undoubted," Stokes said after the Zimbabwe win.

"With Bash it was about giving him the belief that we back him. He's going from strength to strength.

"Now, dealing with the confidence side, knowing he's backed by me, Baz and the rest of the dressing room, it's about building on that and trying to make him as good as he possibly can be.

"We know we've got a very, very special talent in Bash."

In the aftermath in Nottingham, Stokes praised Bashir for speaking about wanting to remain patient on the field during the win.

"That is something he's definitely got a lot better at," Stokes said.

"The big progression with him has been building towards a dismissal and not getting too giddy – that was the word he used out there.

"He's always in the battle. He loves it when guys come after him, because he then feels like he's got to think a little bit more."

There were also small technical tweaks against Zimbabwe, too.

He moved around 5cm closer to the stumps when bowling over the wicket and 8cm closer when bowling round the wicket compared to previous home Tests.

As a result, the number of deliveries travelling down the leg side in this Test dropped from 32% to 17%.

This match was also the fullest he has bowled in any home Test - a key skill for an off-spinner in allowing them to drag a batter onto the front foot.

Previously he bowled 26% of his deliveries in the full region but that jumped to 41% against Zimbabwe.

"It's scary to think about the start of his career considering what he had experience-wise before he made his Test debut," Stokes added.

"It's impossible for him not to get even better than what he is now.

"The guys that we've got working with him, with all the technical stuff with Jeets [England spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel].

"I know it's an odd story to look at. I can understand why some people find it hard to believe.

"If he keeps putting in performances like he has done this week, and continues in the way his career has gone, hopefully one day it will properly make sense to everyone why we pick him."