The most important part of making a long-term plan is being willing to change it. For almost two years, England have been moulding the inexperienced Shoaib Bashir into the image of the spinner they wanted for an Ashes tour Down Under. But now, when push has come to shove, they have picked the part-time spinner Will Jacks.
“We tried to look at how we thought spin was going to be used,” captain Ben Stokes said of Jacks’s selection for the second Test ahead of Bashir. “And there was a bit of a tactical element to it. Obviously Jacksy’s ability with the bat down the order is useful to us as well.”
