England recall Josh Tongue with Ashes on the line

Josh Tongue will replace Gus Atkinson for the third Ashes Test but England have overlooked Shoaib Bashir once more, despite the conditions in Adelaide being expected to suit spinners.

Tongue, the Nottinghamshire quick, is England’s sole change from the eight-wicket defeat at the Gabba eight days ago. That leaves them 2-0 down, a position from which no England team have ever won in almost 150 years of Ashes cricket.

Will Jacks is retained ahead of Bashir on a pitch that is expected to turn, with a sweltering forecast from day two onwards. Bashir has long been groomed as England’s spinner for this tour but has been usurped by part-timer Jacks, who found ways to chip in at the Gabba, whether with bat, ball or a brilliant catch.

Bashir now finds himself at a career crossroads having been omitted on perhaps the most spin-friendly pitch in Australia. As recently as the eve of the Gabba Test, captain Ben Stokes backed Bashir and suggested he remained England’s first-choice spinner.

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Asked if he would be surprised to see Bashir left out, Australia’s veteran spinner Lyon said: “I would be surprised if their No 1 spinner isn’t playing, if I’m honest with you. Will Jacks played a pretty decent role up in Brisbane, in the opportunity he had. I’m not really concerned what XI England produce. We need to worry about what we are doing.”

Captain Ben Stokes admitted that Jacks’s batting ability had come into the equation.

“We know we’re going to have to score some big runs and take 20 wickets,” he said. “So obviously we’ve had to make some big decisions and big calls, over recent times to get the team that we felt was going to give us the best chance.

“I thought the way that Jacksy handled last week in general was really, really good. In both innings, he looked incredibly composed at the crease. And I think when he got into his rhythm with the ball as well, he looked good. We’re 2-0 down, and we’re trying to give ourselves the best chance with bat and ball.”

When Bashir, 22, was omitted for the Gabba Test, Stokes said he remained England’s No 1 spinner, and doubled down on those comments.

Shoaib Bashir has not played for England since the third Test against India in July – PA/Robbie Stephenson

“I wouldn’t say it’s got anything to do against Bash whatsoever,” he said. “If it comes down to picking an XI that we feel it’s down to the best spinning option we’ve got, then I’ll stick to what I said last week.

“It’s going to be disappointing for Bash. But he takes everything in his stride. He’s a very young lad and has had some unbelievable opportunities so far in his short career. In a perfect world, back in the day when we’re planning for Australia, you’re hoping, and you don’t think that you’re going to be in this situation, but this is where we are.”

On Sunday, head coach Brendon McCullum had all but confirmed that England would stick with their settled top seven, which has struggled across the first two matches, especially when injudiciously driving on the up.

That left the make-up of the attack as the only remaining decision to make. Tongue, 28, has been left out of the XI in four of England’s last five Tests, but was their leading wicket-taker against India last summer and has dismissed Australia’s best batsman, Steve Smith, every time he has bowled at him. The debate was over whether he would come in for Atkinson or Brydon Carse. Atkinson has three wickets to Carse’s nine in the series, but has generally bowled with more control.

“We feel like what Tongue possesses in terms of the angles he creates on the crease and his natural wicket-taking ability, is something that we feel is going to help us out this week,” said Stokes.

“Gus has bowled very well out here. He’s just been incredibly unlucky, in particular with the new ball as well. Just don’t think he’s got the luck that he’s deserved.”

As well as Lyon, Australia are expected to welcome back their captain, Pat Cummins, who has not played since July because of a back stress injury. Cummins’s stand-in skipper Smith missed training on Monday with illness.

Omission of Bashir speaks to England’s lack of trust in him

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It is almost exactly two years since Shoaib Bashir was plucked from utter obscurity for England’s tour of India. Bashir was 20 years old and had 10 first-class wickets in six matches, having finally found a home at Somerset after stints at Surrey, Middlesex and Berkshire.

A more left-field England pick it was hard to remember but the selection panel was bold and valued attributes over averages. All it had taken to impress Ben Stokes was a clip forwarded on WhatsApp of Bashir bowling to Sir Alastair Cook.

In Bashir, they saw someone they believed could thrive in all conditions, including Australia, and this Ashes tour was beginning to appear on the horizon. He was a minor breakout success on a tough tour of India, picking up 17 wickets at 33.4. He clearly had spark and character, as well as no little skill. So when their “reset” summer of 2024 arrived, they backed him ahead of his Somerset colleague Jack Leach.

From there, all roads led to Australia. England backed him through thick and thin: a poor tour of Pakistan, where the pitches spun sharply; a tricky Lions tour of Australia; two county loan spells as he could not displace Leach; and a couple of middling home summers. Through it all, he summoned 68 Test wickets at 39, numbers which are presentable if not ideal.

But here we are, with the team for the third Ashes Test selected. For the third time, Bashir does not feature. Instead, England have hedged, with Will Jacks in the Moeen Ali role: attacking batsman, attacking off-spinner, but ultimately defensive selection, designed to contribute a bit in all four innings rather than a lot in two.

Will Jacks retains his place as the designated spinner in third Test – Getty Images/Gareth Copley

This, too, at Adelaide, the favoured ground of Nathan Lyon, Australia’s great off-spinner, who professed his surprise that a so-called first-choice spinner could be overlooked. The pitch is expected to be flat, and designed to last at least four days. To add a further dimension, it is forecasted to be swelteringly hot this week: somewhere between 32 and 37 degrees on each of the first three days. England’s seam attack is injury-prone, and there could be a lot of grunt work for a spinner to do.

That is why there was no hesitation for Australia in recalling Lyon at a venue where he was once a groundsman, rolling the pitch. Lyon was left out at the Gabba, specifically because it was a day/night match. That appeared to vindicate the selection of Jacks, who chipped in well enough, even if it took Stokes time to find confidence in his bowling. Stokes had said, though, that it was a tactical decision that did not reflect who they saw as their leading spinner. He said the same thing in Adelaide, but this time it was much harder to buy.

On England’s last red-ball Test in Adelaide, Stokes’s Test debut in 2013, England played both Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar here. They have gone from two spinners to half of one. With regard to Bashir, it is worth wondering: if not now, then when? It feels only a Jacks shocker could earn him a recall from here.

And yet, for all that, it is hard to argue with England’s choice on the available evidence. When Bashir has bowled on this tour, it has been a struggle. In his first appearance since July owing to a finger injury picked up in a brave display against India, Bashir was given some tap in the warm-up match at Lilac Hill. Against Australia A in Brisbane last week, his 25 overs brought figures of none for 105. When the spinners bowl together in the nets, there is little to pick between them, and Bashir appears to be lacking both rhythm and confidence. It must be playing on his mind that, although he has an England central contract for another 10 months, he does not have a county deal, having effectively been released by Somerset at the end of the season.

Stokes was full of positivity when speaking about Bashir, praising his character and saying he had done nothing wrong. “In a perfect world, back in the day when we’re planning for Australia, you’re hoping, and you don’t think that you’re going to be in this situation, but this is where we are,” he said. Surely, if Bashir was bowling as well as England believe he can, he would be getting the nod for this Test as a fourth-innings match-winner.

A perfect world: that is certainly a long way from where England are on this tour, and where poor Bashir finds himself.

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