Shoaib Bashir under the microscope as England look to save Ashes series

England are facing a spin dilemma in their bid to keep the Ashes alive in Adelaide, with Shoaib Bashir under the microscope.

At 2-0 down in the five-match series, England are already in must-win territory after just six days on the field.

Spin was little more than an afterthought on the pacy pitch in Perth or in the day/night clash in Brisbane, but that is expected to change in the third Test.

With temperatures climbing in South Australia, there is likely to be a significant job for the slow bowlers to do at the Adelaide Oval and the hosts have already signalled their intentions to bring Nathan Lyon back into the XI.

But while they have the luxury of drafting a 140-cap veteran with 562 wickets under his belt, England have no such luck. Instead, they must make a tricky judgement call over Bashir.

The 22-year-old has been backed by the selectors for the past two years despite inconsistent appearances and a stalled domestic career that has left him surplus to requirements at Somerset.

Pre-series planning would have earmarked Bashir for a place on Wednesday’s team-sheet but concerns are creeping in. After all-rounder Will Jacks was preferred for the second Test, Bashir was released to play for England Lions against Australia A and returned disappointing figures of nought for 115 from 25.

Having failed to lay a glove on the second string, it would be optimistic to expect the off-spinner to excel against Australia’s Test XI. Bashir also found himself under the pump in the pre-series warm-up match at Lilac Hill, where his own team-mates attacked him consistently.

Bowling for both sides in different innings, he was clobbered by England’s senior batters as well as the Lions contingent, serving up a total of 24 overs for 151 – with a combined run-rate of almost 6.3 an over. A similar performance in the third Test would be a major drain on England.

Hindsight now suggests their decision to jettison Jack Leach and Liam Dawson, two dependable left-arm spinners who were judged not to have the height, bounce or angles to succeed against Australia may be flawed.

In their absence, the Press Association looks at the choices England could consider.

Option 1: Take the Bashir gamble

Selecting Bashir would clearly be a risk given his ongoing struggles, but he has played 19 of England’s last 24 Tests and has bowled a lot of overs under Ben Stokes. With 68 wickets at an average of 39 and four five-wicket hauls, he has reasonable international experience. On the down side, Bashir’s presence weakens the tail and he is only a moderate fielder. If he does not get the nod here, his future looks uncertain.

Option 2: Retain Will Jacks as the sole spinner

Batting all-rounder Jacks was picked at the Gabba in what was billed as a horses-for-courses selection. Stokes explicitly said when naming his team that he ranked Bashir as the superior bowler. But the Surrey man did himself plenty of favours, showing promise in knocks of 19 and 41 as well as taking a stunner of a catch to dismiss Steve Smith. He was only called on to bowl 11.3 overs, taking the only spin wicket of the series so far when he had number 11 Brendan Doggett caught at slip. But do England believe in his part-time off-breaks enough to hand over a much heavier workload?

Option 3: Pair up the part-timers

They could choose to retain Jacks but make changes elsewhere – dropping the misfiring Ollie Pope at number three and replacing him with Jacob Bethell. Bethell is another occasional bowling option but, as a left-armer, offers variety and the ability to turn the ball the other way. He is very much a work in progress with the ball, but took three Test wickets in Hamilton a year ago and also has 12 white-ball scalps to his name. Could Jacks, Bethell and Joe Root perform an adequate job-share?

Option 4: All-out pace

It would defy conventional wisdom but it is not impossible that England add both reserve seamers, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts, to the team and hope they have enough quicks to take 20 wickets. One of Jacks or Bethell could still slide in at three to offer relief, but the onus would be on the fast bowlers to make hay.