A tilt of the head towards the sky with both eyes closed. That’s how it ends, or rather, that’s how it begins. Shoaib Bashir became England men’s Test cap No 713 last week in Visakhapatnam and as is now customary he was presented with his dark-blue headpiece in a short but meaningful pre-match huddle on the outfield. The man to lead this one was Bashir’s Somerset teammate, Jack Leach.
“Trust me when I say, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t fully deserve this … we can’t wait to watch you play … don’t forget to smile out there, that’s all the team needs from you and the rest will follow.”
