Bashir becomes Bash

Shoaib Bashir emerges as England’s new bowling sensation with seven-wicket haul

• Amit Roy
• 23 July, 2024

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By: Amit Roy

WHAT’S in a name? More to the point, what is the significance of a nickname in multicultural Britain?

The England right-arm off-break bowler, Shoaib Bashir, is referred to by his admiring teammates as Bash. Eastern Eye readers need not worry. The use of a nickname in this context is a sign of affection.

Bashir was the hero of the second Test between England and the West Indies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham last week, taking two wickets for 108 runs in the first innings and a match-winning five wickets for only 41 in the second.

Bashir, who was born into a Pakistani family, is only 20. At 6 feet 4 inches, he has the advantage of height when delivering the ball. In five Tests for England, he has already taken 24 wickets. Although it’s early days, there are hopes that England have found a champion bowler who will grow with the years.

When England toured India last year, Bashir could not make his debut in the first Test because his visa did not come through on time. He was talent-spotted by the England captain Ben Stokes, who paid tribute to Bashir. “Bash showed what he could do in India with conditions in his favour, but the pitch this week didn’t really offer much for spin and he has taken seven wickets in the match,” said Stokes. “I don’t want to sound like it’s an ‘I told you so’ kind of thing, but it sort of is.”

Stokes continued: “He has got so much talent and he’s got an unbelievable desire to get better. It’s really good for a young guy to put in a performance that wins England a Test. He was pretty emotional at the end.”

The BBC report on the match was headlined, “Bashir the brilliant.”

Rory Dollard’s match report in The Independent included what Stokes had said about Bashir: “I think what Bash has done today is to show the world what he can do. That wicket hardly offered anything for a spinner throughout the whole Test match and look at what he was able to do. The way in which he can change his pace, produce over-spin and under-spin…I think he showed his full bag of tricks. He’s got so much talent and the ceiling is so, so high. He’s got an unbelievable desire and a will to get better and learn. He was so aggressive and his intent was always to look to take wickets and was never just to hold an end up.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said in the Daily Telegraph that “Shoaib Bashir was fantastic on the fourth day. He was ok in the first innings, but you judge finger spinners on the second innings. He just looks like a wicket taking bowler. There will be periods where the batsmen feel they can strike against him, but he will always threaten.”

In the Times, Mike Atherton wrote: “It was Bashir who caused most havoc with his height and accurate off spin from the Radcliffe Road End. Not since Muttiah Muralitharan bamboozled England to defeat in 2006 has a spinner taken a five-for in Test cricket here and, with seven wickets for the match, Bashir could be delighted with his efforts across both innings. The selectors can give themselves a pat on the back.”

Stokes is making it clear that after the racism encountered by another Pakistani origin player, Azeem Rafiq, at Yorkshire, that in his side, players will be judged by their performance and not their religion or the colour of their skin.

Incidentally, the England bowler is not the first “Bashir” I have encountered.

Years ago, I became friends with a Glasgow city councillor by the name of Bashir Maan. He was also Glasgow’s first Asian magistrate. His proclivity for giving offenders six months in prison, the maximum under the law, earned him the nickname, “Basher Man.”

The way the British use nicknames is very revealing. When the former England captain Nasser Hussain scored a Test century, papers would embrace him as “Naz”. But he was called “Hussain” if he was out cheaply.

Lord Emsworth, the end

King Charles, in his speech, set out the Labour government’s legislative programme to remove 92 hereditary peers: “Measures to modernise the constitution will be introduced including House of Lords reform to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords (House of Lords Hereditary Peers Bill).”

This legislation is expected to make more room for Labour supporters, especially former trade union officials. Experience has shown that hereditary peers often talk a lot of sense.

The only Indian hereditary peerage went to Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha (1863-1928), whose descendants ignored my appeals to take their seat when this was still possible.

Someone once said unkindly that the “the House of Lords is proof of life after that”. But I have to confess I have had a soft spot for eccentric hereditary peers ever since I was introduced to Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl Emsworth, commonly known as Lord Emsworth, and his prize pig, Empress of Blandings, by PG Wodehouse.

I would support Sir Keir Starmer if he wanted to get rid of peers (especially Asian ones) who breeze into the place for five minutes just to collect their daily £332 tax-free attendance allowance, or use the subsidised restaurant as a lunch club to impress their visiting business delegations from abroad.

Fight, fight, fight – against Trump

With Joe Biden’s decision to stand down in the US presidential race and offer his “full support and endorsement for Kamala (Harris) to be the nominee of our party this year”, Donald Trump’s victory is no longer assured.

The Daily Telegraph in London acknowledged as much in its report from America: “Mr Biden’s decision has also provoked nervousness among some Republicans, who think Ms Harris has a better chance of beating Trump.”

At 78, Trump is only three years younger than Biden, but he wanted the latter to run because the president’s mental abilities were clearly failing. But questions can also be asked about whether Trump, too, is mentally equipped to serve four years in the White House, especially after experiencing the trauma of the nearly successful assassination attempt. At this late stage, his line of attack against Harris, who at 59 is 19 years younger than him, will have to be changed.

His slogan, “Fight, fight, fight”, may be turned against him, if the Democratic movement can unite behind Harris.

In Britain, the far right, which wants Trump to win, will now turn against Harris – as it did with Rishi Sunak – partly because she is of Asian and black origin.

Among British politicians who rushed over to America hoping a photograph with Trump would enhance their careers were Liz Truss and Nigel Farage. Truss is a failed politician, so there is no reason for Trump to give her five minutes for a selfie. Even Farage, who boasted about standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Trump in an article in the Daily Telegraph, which gives him too much space, has so far not secured the photo opportunity that he desires. It may be a while before his constituents in Clacton see him again.

Boris Johnson did get nearly an hour with Trump and tried to persuade him not to pull the plug on military aid to Ukraine. But perhaps Boris also retains hopes of making a comeback. Ironically, if Trump wins, he will “fight, fight, fight” for the right of Americans to have easy access to guns so that there may be more assassinations and mass killings in the US.