Following the impact of the India Test, Brendon McCullum pushes for county chances for Hartley and Bashir

The head coach claims that if the two were kept off the field during the championship season, it would be "slightly mad."
Brendon McCullum, the head coach of England, believes it would be "slightly mad" if Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir are unable to build on their successful county cricket tour of India. He has proposed that teams create fields to help nurture spinners around the nation.

In a series where England played well but ultimately lost, Hartley and Bashir have been two bright spots. On Monday, India secured an unassailable 3-1 lead with victory in the fourth Test at Ranchi. The off-spinner and left-arm spinner, who had little first-class experience when they arrived, have performed admirably all along, even against opposition hitters who are skilled at playing the turning ball.
Having taken just 19 wickets during Lancashire's Division One campaign last summer, Hartley has now taken the most wickets in the series (20) despite having featured in all four Test matches. With 12 Test wickets, Bashir has more than quadrupled his red-ball total. He made his first-class debut in 2023, arriving with 10 dismissals at an average of 67 for Somerset. They both scored five wickets during this trip.
The players they selected were designed to satisfy England's unique needs for success in India: big spinners who can drive the ball into the pitch, following in the footsteps of players like R Ashwin and Axar Patel, who have excelled in domestic settings. Hartley and Bashir were almost fast-tracked into the England set-up after making an impression with the Lions under men's performance director Mo Bobat, who left the ECB last week to take up a role at Royal Challengers Bangalore. Since then, they have flourished.

The worry is that, as England is preparing for a trip to Pakistan in October, the two might not get much playing time when they return to their home counties.
For example, Lancashire has hired veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon for the next season. Lyon grabbed his 500th Test wicket in Perth in December. Hartley said it would be "fantastic" if they could play together, but he admitted Lyon will be the main player in the starting XI after bowling England to victory in the first Test with 7 for 62.

Meanwhile, Bashir must deal with Jack Leach, his England teammate, at Somerset. Leach will require Championship games to regain his full fitness for the home series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka. On Thursday, he will undergo surgery to reduce swelling in the damaged left knee, which kept him out of the India series after just one Test. During his three home appearances last summer, Bashir was the only spinner in the starting lineup, even though Taunton surfaces sometimes favor a multi-spinner approach. For the second Test in Visakhapatnam, Leach gave Bashir his debut cap.
"It will be a slight frustration of ours if they weren't given opportunities at county level," McCullum stated. "There's a very real possibility that might be the case, but without wanting to dictate to counties because they have their own agendas as well when you see performances like we have out of those two bowlers throughout the series, I think you'd be slightly mad if you didn't give them more opportunities in county cricket."It would be ideal to believe they would have lots of chances to advance more quickly. We simply need to keep trying to get cricket into them, whether those possibilities are with counties or with England. We will strive to give them every chance we have because there are two men there who are more than capable of playing cricket on the international stage. They're strong characters as well.

"A man's heart size is something that is hidden from view, and both of them have demonstrated that they are willing to play international cricket despite having large hearts. We just need to keep giving them both opportunities because the situation doesn't get any harder than it is right now and they have both stood up and performed."
Ben Stokes, the captain, had a similar opinion shortly after England's five-wicket loss in the fourth Test, but he also said it was "very tough" to have counties follow certain requirements. In an attempt to improve the sport and increase entertainment value, McCullum proposed that teams create surfaces that encourage players to turn more.

"As much as England's about playing on good wickets and having the ball move off the seam, it should also be about playing on spinning wickets too," he stated. "If we lived in a world where we could have both Bash and Leachy able to operate in spinning conditions at Somerset, and Hartley and Lyon could bowl together at Lancashire, I think that would be a great viewing point for spectators."
The most recent examples of an England lineup unaffected by domestic form and statistics are Hartley and Bashir. For example, Zak Crawley was first picked in 2019 despite only making three first-class hundreds in 36 games for Kent, before McCullum and Stokes supported him through a difficult start to their term. With 328 runs at an average of 41 in India, he is dominating England's run rankings after topping the Ashes scoring charts.
McCullum insisted England's selection policies do not disregard county form, even when they go beyond the figures. They have been able to make more accurate picks thanks to the size and diversity of English cricket.
If that's what you mean, we don't pick because of county cricket. We attempt to modify our skill requirements based on our assessment of what we will need, and we have the guts to make the necessary judgments. Not every choice we make will be the right one.

"In our perspective, there is a large group of players in county cricket who we believe play in a style that we as a team would like to play and who also mesh well with the surroundings. And while it's all, a lot of people are watching those guys. Therefore, it's not undoubtedly notwithstanding it. County cricket is a good system; it offers many possibilities for cricketers, a fair volume of cricket, and a variety of conditions."Even players with outstanding county records may not always make the England squad. And some guys won't make it in, but that doesn't mean that [county cricket] is a reflection of that. It all comes down to the desired skill set."