England Spinner Shoaib Bashir Makes Unwanted History in County Championship

England’s young spinner Shoaib Bashir had a day to forget in the County Championship, conceding a staggering 38 runs in a single over. This ties the record for the most expensive over in the history of the competition.

The 20-year-old, playing for Worcestershire, was on the receiving end of some brutal hitting by his England teammate Dan Lawrence, representing Surrey. Lawrence launched Bashir for five consecutive sixes, putting the bowler under immense pressure.

Things went from bad to worse for Bashir when his next delivery went way down the leg side, resulting in five wides. To add insult to injury, he then overstepped for a no-ball, gifting two extra runs and a single to Lawrence. Only on the last ball of the over did Bashir manage to escape further punishment, conceding a dot ball.

This horror show by Bashir equals the record set by Alex Tudor in 1998, who also conceded 38 runs in an over for Surrey against Lancashire. Interestingly, on that occasion, former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff plundered 34 of those runs.

This expensive over came in just Bashir’s 12th first-class match. The youngster had a promising start to his international career, making his Test debut for England on the tour of India earlier this year.

Shoaib Bashir was launched as young bowler with a big potential when England toured India. Bashir was successful in terms of making good use of his height and in one test match, he also took a 5 wicket haul.

One bad over doesn’t define a bowler’s career. Take Stuart Broad for example who was hit for 6 sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh but later on he went to become one of the finest bowler in test cricket.