That's only 5. Atkinson is a lock. I'm not even convinced Bashir will play another Test full stop after Rawalpindi this week let alone get an Ashes Tour. He could really do with Leach playing for England all next Summer and him getting some decent overs in for Somerset. But I'm not sure they'd pick him either.
Whatever the case, the spinner is very much a supporting role in both NZ and at home to India next summer. Sure they might have to bowl quite a bit when the ball is not new, but they will be unlikely to be an attacking threat for most of the time.
And if you want a spinner to be a defensive option whilst the seamers rotate, the answer to that is clearly Leach (although I'm not sure that's what McCullum/Stokes want).
Could also add Onions and Mustard from Durham if they hadn't retired
Stokes as a batting all-rounder who bowls a bit, then the top 6 and Atkinson I’d say are currently on the plane (if I had to remove one it would probably be Potts though as despite getting a bit quicker over the last year or two, he’s still the slowest of the seamers likely in the mix to go apart from Stokes). With it being a long tour and with the historical injury records of some of those bowlers, I don’t see what’s wrong with a big squad (is there a Lions tour to Aus at the same time? Might be handy to plonk some of those not picked to keep them ticking over)
Whatever he does in Pakistan I don’t feel it’s relevant to Australia as the conditions are completely different, he did fine in the second Test when the pitch was spinning, but in the first Test there wasn’t much spin or bounce, he’ll get much more of the latter Down Under
We saw against Sri Lanka that bowling in English conditions against Asian batters can be a thankless task, if Bashir is preferred to Leach for that series, I do hope they don’t overreact if he gets a tonking, India at home would have to go down as one of the biggest challenges an English spinner is ever going to face
Although, not if your name was Moeen Ali!!
Ha, I suppose Moeen was a bit more experienced than Bashir as a spinner by then (but not that much!)
Makes it easy for the Tongue?
Also Mo didn't do much in India did he? He just kept beating us when we went there.
They won’t be ditching Bashir that quickly
Wouldn’t shock me if Leach is preferred for India next year, he’s better right now, and it’s a series we’ll have to be at or near our very best to win, but I doubt Bashir is frozen out whatever happens
Not frozen out, just not first choice. And I believe we don’t go back to Asia for over 2 years after this, so the need for a second spinner is unlikely. Every chance someone else might come through by then, or Stokes is gone.