County News: Sussex Chairman Quits

 

09/02

Sussex Chairman Quits

I can confirm, on behalf of the Club, that Jon Filby has stepped down with immediate effect from his role as Chair of Sussex Cricket.

 Jon has served as Chair since April 2022 and has given a significant amount of time and energy to the Club during a difficult period. On behalf of Sussex Cricket, I would like to thank him for his service.

The Vice Chair, Martin Richards, will act as Chair on an interim basis until the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March. An independent Board Review, as part of the ECB Framework and CPA Agreements, will commence imminently, alongside a planned process to recruit and appoint new Directors, including a new Chair.

I also want to respond directly to the open letter published this week and to the strength of feeling it reflects. We fully understand the emotions behind it. Poor financial performance has left the Club in a position where we have had to seek support from the ECB and now face sporting sanctions. We know many former players, sponsors and members care deeply about Sussex Cricket, and we hear their concerns clearly.

I can only apologise, on behalf of the Club, for the position we are in. But I would ask everyone who cares about Sussex to allow us the opportunity to put things right. It will mean change, but it also requires stability, and we will be far stronger together. We will not shirk the challenge ahead, and we welcome all forms of constructive dialogue.

Alongside these governance steps, work to address the Club’s financial position is already under way, with further actions being progressed to place Sussex Cricket on a more sustainable footing.

On Monday evening we will hold a Members’ Forum. Martin Richards, Paul Farbrace and I will be present. The purpose of that forum is to provide members with insight into the challenges the Club faces, how we are addressing them, and to hear concerns and answer questions. We expect that conversation to be robust, and we welcome it.

Sussex Cricket has a proud history and an incredibly loyal supporter base. Rebuilding trust will take time, but we are determined to do so and put the Club on a more stable footing for the future.

 Mark West

Interim CEO

Sussex Cricket  

07/02

Calls for resignations at Hove and  here too

05/02

Player Departure Pending at Sussex

Wormsley to be Lord's partner venue

04/02

Nick Howson

Kent have announced that three members of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) have joined the club.

Sav Perera, Ismail Mohammed and Chinmay Mullapudi have joined with immediate effect in the hope of impressing ahead of the upcoming summer.

They join the club's academy+ programme, which is designed for players who have outgrown a traditional academy setup but have yet to secure a rookie contract.

The initial plan is for players to transition into the second XI under the guidance of elite coaching at Canterbury.

Director of cricket Simon Cook, said: "Our academy+ programme is an important part of our talent development pathway, designed for players who have outgrown the Academy but find themselves in a space where they aren't quite ready for a full‑time contract or are temporarily blocked by our current squad make‑up.

"We support academy+ players by providing facilities and coaching, giving later developers the platform, guidance, and high‑quality training they need to keep progressing, whether that leads to opportunities here at Kent or the chance to showcase themselves to other clubs.

"The initiative also provides a vital platform at the top end of our pathway system. We're excited to welcome Savin, Ismail and Chinmay into our Academy+ programme for 2026."

The news provides another opportunity for Perera, a Sri Lankan-born former Middlesex academy player, another opportunity to secure a full-time contract.

The former England Under-19 international told The Cricketer last month he believed he had played second-team cricket for 14 counties without being offered professional terms.

Top-order batter Mohammed played two List A matches last summer, both for a First-Class Counties Select XI against the Pakistan Shaheens at Beckenham. He spent much of the rest of the season playing for Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire's second XIs.

Left-arm seamer Mullapudi is also a regular on the second XI circuit, playing for Sussex, Gloucestershire, Middlesex and Hertfordshire last term.

"Each of them are outstanding cricketers in their own right and thoroughly deserve their chances," said Tom Brown, the SACA founder and managing director. "I have little doubt that they will seize their opportunities with both hands and relish the chance to prove their credentials to the Kent coaching staff."

02/02

Minus 12 in Hove

Sussex hit with points deductions amid fears of £800,000 losses

Limits on player salaries are among the restrictions imposed by the ECB on the club with the CEO blaming an ‘unsuccessful growth plan’

Will Macpherson

Sussex will start the new season with points deductions in all county competitions, having received an emergency loan from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Sussex were forced to go to the ECB asking for support having been plunged into financial difficulty. In their last set of published accounts, for 2024, they lost £297,000, but the 2025 losses are anticipated by insiders to be higher than £800,000.

The ECB have placed Sussex in what it calls a “three-year financial framework agreement in order to access exceptional funding”. This will mean funding is advanced to stabilise the club’s finances, in exchange for a number of terms.

Sussex were handed the following sanctions:

• A 12-point deduction in the County Championship, a two-point deduction in the Vitality Blast and a two-point deduction in the MetroBank One Day Cup
• A suspended points deduction of the same level for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, should any of the conditions of the agreement be breached
• A suspended fine of £100,000 should any of the conditions of the agreement be breached
• Governance reforms, including an external review into the skills of the board, and giving ECB oversight to the club’s board meetings and any relevant subcommittees
• Restrictions on men’s player salaries for the next three seasons
• A reduction in the operating loss for 2025-26 and a need to provide the ECB with budgets and business plans for the next three financial years with the club to show sustainable year-on-year operating profits by 2027-28

Mark West, Sussex’s interim chief executive, said in a statement: “Since taking on the interim role at the end of last season, it has become clear that a combination of unsuccessful growth plans and wider economic pressures have contributed to the position the club finds itself in today.

“The points deductions will be an unexpected blow to the players and supporters, but we accept the ECB’s decision. We are sorry – it hasn’t been good enough. Our responsibility now is to put things right and ensure the club is in a stronger position going forward.

“As we look ahead to the new season, our focus is on making the club sustainable: we cannot expect to rely on central funds in the same way in the future – and any monies must be used in line with the ECB’s financial guardrails.”

West took over on an interim basis after the departure of Pete Fitzboydon, who had been CEO for two years. In a statement at the time, chairman Jon Filby thanked him, saying he “certainly leaves us in a better place”. Fitzboydon had himself taken over from Rob Andrew, who is now managing director of the professional game at the ECB.

Such sanctions are unusual. In 2023, Middlesex were placed in special measures, resulting in a £50,000 fine and a suspended points deduction. A decade ago, Durham received a £3.8m bailout from the ECB, which meant they were relegated, given a 48-point deduction, and stripped of Test-hosting status.

“Professional Counties are allocated significant funding every year through the County Partnership Agreement, and it is essential that all counties have viable business plans to ensure their financial sustainability,” said Richard Gould, the ECB CEO.

“The aim of approving exceptional funding through this agreement is to provide Sussex with the time to correct their underlying issues and for the ECB ensure that all counties are treated fairly.”

The ECB statement added: “This is intended to provide short-term stability while the club delivers the changes required to operate on a more sustainable footing”.

Sussex have been upwardly mobile under head coach Paul Farbrace, finishing fourth in Division One last year, while being active in the player market. This winter alone they have signed four players from other counties.

The club’s financial plight comes at a time when counties that do not host a Hundred team, like Sussex, should have access to around £25m of funds raised by the sale of stakes in the eight teams in the competition a year ago.

However, the ECB have placed “guard rails” on this money so it is used on paying down debt and making each county more financially sustainable, rather than writing off operating losses. Sussex have to make a business case to the ECB to access the funds.

29/01

Ex-Sussex and Durham player keen to build on Repton silverware success

Five of the Derbyshire school's boys played county 2nd XI cricket last year

Former Sussex and Durham star Martin Speight has a seven-year plan for all his players at Repton School on what he calls “a carousel of cricket”.

The wicketkeeper/batsman has been at the Derbyshire school for two years, and he said: “It’s great to have a full cycle with our cricketers, when you can influence them from a young age. I want to get to the point where if someone comes in at sixth form, great, but you are not reliant on that.”

Results from last summer appear good, but Speight is not resting on his laurels as he works alongside Chris Simons and Adam Holt.

“The 1st XI won 14 and lost nine, eight of which we lost in the last over, which we will need to look at,” said Speight. “Our catching was our biggest weakness even though we practise it every Wednesday and it’s normally a super-strength.

“Also, sometimes we found sides that were more physical than us. I taught at a Rugby School before, and it wasn’t a problem there. People hit the ball harder than us this season, they ran quicker, and were just a bit more physical than us.

"That is the way the game is going – counties expect players to belt it out of the park now. So now we are going to develop a strong culture for conditioning and strength work, and we have two coaches looking at that. We will also be working hard on the mental skills of cricket.”

Clearly they are doing something right, though, as five of the boys played county 2nd XI cricket. “And our junior teams did very well, the under-12s, 13s and 14s.

“Also, our girls won the under-17 national cup, and our 15s girls lost in both national semis. They get exactly the same coaching as the boys. Chris oversees the girls’ section. He is a full-time coach/administrator and development officer and does incredibly well. He’s been here five years now, and he is also works for Derbyshire CCC in his spare time.”

Work has already started ahead of next summer, with 50 hours a week of coaching offered, a mixture of individual and group sections. Speight starts at 6.30am. He goes to the prep school three mornings a week, and spends all day Friday there with Holt. Academy courses are also run in the holidays.

Speight is also a celebrated painter, of course, and was pleased to see his fellow keeper/bat-artist Jack Russell painting the school this year in the One Day Cup.

“I finished painting the school last year, and it’s now outside headmaster’s study. I have done a couple of Harry Brook, who I coached at Sedbergh. I have him one for his birthday present, holding his bat up and looking at the sky when he scored 317 in the Test at Multan in October 2024. He then gave me the scorecard, which he signed, so I need to add that to the picture.”

Speight still follows the fortunes of Sussex and Durham, and Yorkshire; as well as Brook, he has coached Matt Revis, George Hill and Dom Bess.

28/01

Northants posted:

Calvin Harrison has been named in England Lions’ T20 and 50 over squads for their upcoming white-ball series against Pakistan Shaheens.

Harrison will link up with the squad ahead of the opening T20 game on Friday 20th February.

Selectors have named a 17-player squad for the three-match T20 series, with a 16-player squad announced for the five 50-over matches.

T20 squad

Jordan Cox (Essex – captain)

Sonny Baker (Hampshire)

Luc Benkenstein (Essex)

James Coles (Sussex)

Sam Cook (Essex)

Scott Currie (Hampshire)

Calvin Harrison (Northamptonshire)

Eddie Jack (Hampshire)

Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)

Ben McKinney (Durham)

Tom Moores (Nottinghamshire)

Dan Mousley (Warwickshire)

Matt Revis (Yorkshire)

Will Smeed (Somerset)

Nathan Sowter (Durham)

Mitch Stanley (Lancashire)

Asa Tribe (Glamorgan)

50 over squad

Dan Mousley (Warwickshire – captain)

Sonny Baker (Hampshire)

Luc Benkenstein (Essex)

Sam Cook (Essex)

James Coles (Sussex)

Scott Currie (Hampshire)

Calvin Harrison (Northamptonshire)

Eddie Jack (Hampshire)

Ben McKinney (Durham)

Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire)

Matthew Potts (Durham)

Matt Revis (Yorkshire)

James Rew (Somerset)

Mitch Stanley (Lancashire)

Asa Tribe (Glamorgan)

James Wharton (Yorkshire)

ECB Men’s Performance Director, Ed Barney, said: “It’s exciting to have such a strong England Lions squad selected. This group brings a real blend of proven performers, exciting talent who have performed over the winter and retains an eye on future best.

“With limited 50-over cricket on offer, this series combined with tours over the remainder of 2026 will give players the opportunity to develop and deliver as we build towards the 2027 ICC Men’s World Cup in South Africa.”

England Lions Head Coach Andrew Flintoff will lead a coaching staff that will include Troy Cooley’s first tour since returning to the ECB as Men’s Elite National Pace Bowling Lead. The coaching team – which will attend either all or part of the tour – includes Neil McKenzie, Sarah Taylor, Neil Killeen, Moeen Ali, Amar Rashid and Ben Stokes.

The tour will be the first time that England Lions have played an away white-ball series since they travelled to Sri Lanka in February 2022. The Lions will also host South Africa A and Sri Lanka in white-ball cricket this summer with white-ball tours also planned for next winter.

Tour schedule – England Lions v Pakistan Shaheens

1st T20: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Friday 20 February 2026

2nd T20: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Sunday 22 February 2026

3rd T20: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Tuesday 24 February 2026

1st 50-over match: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Friday 27 February 2026

2nd 50-over match: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Sunday 1 March 2026

3rd 50-over match: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Wednesday 4 March 2026

4th 50-over match: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Friday 6 March 2026

5th 50-over match: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Monday 9 March 2026

Uni Cricketers Banned

21/01

"I just want the feeling of getting signed": The story of Sav Perera, the England Under-19 opener still trialing at 26

NICK FRIEND - INTERVIEW: No one in the country has hit more second-team red-ball centuries since 2022, and few can have trialled for more counties than the left-hander, who played at an Under-19 World Cup and has never been signed but won't give up

"Wow," says Sav Perera, pausing for thought. The question that stops him in his tracks is this: when did you last bat without pressure?

For, that is the life of a trialist, and few – if any – have trialled more than him.

If you're trying to chase something, and if each game is about proving yourself, every innings becomes an audition. How does that square with still enjoying the game? Every failure – in a game predominantly of failures – is a missed opportunity. Runs mean everything. And yet, a century on a particular day isn't, on its own, enough. Instead, a score is just a basic necessity – equivalent to the food that keeps us alive – merely maintaining your relevance as someone on the outside, desperately banging on the door.

"I'll tell you what," he decides. "I don't think I ever have."

At 26, he's reached the average age at which a professional cricket career ends in the United Kingdom, but his hasn't started. His ambition, though, remains undimmed, and his desire stands out among any number of cricketers.

For, if Perera didn't want it so much, he wouldn't still be doing this: commuting between his home in west London and his club side, Cavaliers and Carrington, to churn out 3,718 Nottinghamshire Premier League runs in the last four years; driving up and down the country, year upon year, to bat for anyone who'll pick him, often six days per week; spending this winter in Perth because, after finishing the English summer with an unbeaten 160 against Northamptonshire's second team, he just wanted to ride that momentum in a manner that netting indoors with the South Asian Cricket Academy simply can't replicate.

In many ways, Perera, who came through Middlesex's youth system, is a fascinating case study for English cricket. Once upon a time, he was England's left-handed opening batter at an Under-19 World Cup, captained by Harry Brook in 2018. Tom Banton was his partner, with Brook at first drop – "we knew he was going to play for England, but we didn't know how good he could be" – and Will Jacks at No.4. Others in that squad – Dillon Pennington, Ethan Bamber, Luke Hollman, Adam Finch, Jack Davies, Tom Scriven – are domestic regulars these days.

Perera, meanwhile, is one of just four players across England's last six World Cup squads – that's 90 teenagers – never to hold a professional contract. "I think it was just wrong place, wrong time," he reflects. "I would look at it as like, if you're playing for England Under-19s, you're good enough to play. That's almost a guaranteed contract, for at least a year, or a rookie. But I've not had that."

Yet, seven years on, if you polled a decent sample of people on the fringes of the county game, a fair percentage would tell you that there is no better player not to have had a deal. More than one, asked by The Cricketer, would go further, that Perera is better than several of those already contracted. "Yeah," said a domestic quick. "He's gun." If that is the case, then why is it this way?

Since the start of the 2022 season, he has hit nine red-ball hundreds in county second-team cricket, reaching three figures once in every six innings. If you're unfamiliar with how that matches up across the circuit, perhaps this can help: no one in the country can improve on that record.

He is one ahead of Josh Blake, Surrey's reserve wicketkeeper, and Dane Schadendorf, the newly-retired former Nottinghamshire man, both with eight. Beneath them: Will Luxton, Zen Malik, Andy Umeed, Robin Das, Harry Duke, Joe Weatherley, Ben Geddes, Ethan Brookes, Chris Benjamin, Kashif Ali, Ben Martindale. All have one thing in common: county contracts. His nearest non-contracted rival is five back. In 2025 alone, Perera hit tons against four different second teams. That there aren't grander names on that list is, predominantly, because you're not kicking around the second team for long if you're peeling off hundred after hundred.

In anyone's book, this feels like an oversight, but he grapples with the idea of misfortune – and, let it be said, neither the reason for, nor the content of, this conversation was to issue a come-and-get-me plea or a woe-is-me tirade.

"Have I been unlucky?" he wonders, repeating the question put to him. "I feel that, but as soon as you start feeling those things, it is so easy to let everything take over, whereas you just have to keep pushing."

But bad luck has manifested itself both tangibly and otherwise. Had he not jammed his pinky in the outfield when sliding to prevent a boundary late one afternoon for Glamorgan's second team as far back as 2022, this piece likely wouldn't exist. He was on the verge of signing a contract with the Welsh county, only for an innocuous stubbed finger to be, in fact, a break bad enough to warrant immediate surgery and incur a seven-month absence. "That's the closest I've been," he reflects. "Literally, a week away. That was my contract gone and my season done."

So, with that, he retracts his earlier analysis: "You know how you asked if I feel unlucky? I think right now, I've got my hundreds and I'm feeling a bit unlucky. But I think that was as unlucky as it gets. I've never really dwelled on it. I'm still here, just doing what I can do, seeing if anything comes along when I get back."

In reality, though, it's not as if Perera can do much more. He overhauled his white-ball game when his strike rate was used as a stick to beat him with, for being a red-ball specialist isn't long for this world. When he was told to back up one hundred with another, that's what he did. "Even on the back of three hundreds, you feel like you have to do more," he explains, "which isn't the worst thing. But then, the mental side of that is, 'How come I have to prove myself again?'

"For me, I think the unluckiest thing, I'd say, is being in the right place at the right time. I think I've scored most of my hundreds probably in the wrong place at the wrong time, where if those were at a different time when the counties were actually interested, things could have been different."

That doesn't feel quite right, though, and it speaks to a series of events that show the need for a reform of second-team cricket. It's not news to learn that trialling is ruthless, but the idea that quality performances can be passed off – often because you were only ever drafted in to plug a gap – undermines the idea of a pathway.

As counties have sought to save money in recent years, so too has the broader standard of second-team cricket dropped, which simultaneously works against players in Perera's shoes. Suddenly, these runs are worth less, the big innings less automatically instructive.

Yet, if trust in the process is dwindling – 'why hasn't anyone else signed him?' shouldn't be the basis for another club's decision – it's an inevitability that talent will be missed, particularly when the attitude towards free-agent recruitment is so often, in the words of one longtime former trialist, "about looking for an excuse rather than what you're good at".

"I mean, it is tough," Perera admits, "especially when you're on trial, and you do well. Let's say you get a hundred, right? And then, you're hoping. With how the county setup is right now, one hundred is probably not enough. But then, to prove myself, I've actually done it consistently. And that's where that barrier comes in. Like, okay, I've done what's needed to be done.

"So, almost, the ball is in the county's court now. But then to not get feedback from counties, even after all the hundreds, around what I could work on, what that missing piece is for me to go on and get the contract – it'll be, 'We'll get back to you,' or, 'We'll let you know,' and that's the last time I hear from them."

Not that Perera is a stranger. Rather than have him reel off the counties he's played for, it's easier – and more fun – to run through a list of them all. Derbyshire. "Yep." Durham. "No, I've not done them." Essex. "Yeah." Glamorgan. "Yes." Gloucestershire. "Yeah." Hampshire. "Hampshire? No, I haven't done them." And, on it goes. In total, he reckons he's played second-team cricket for 14 counties along the way, a genuinely remarkable figure.

But it's hard, trying to fit in, while bouncing from new dressing room to new dressing room, particularly when the underlying truth is that you're playing for someone else's contract. "Every other week, I'm having to introduce myself, walk into a new environment, get to know the coaches, get to know how they play. On top of all of that, I'm there to perform, and I need to do all of that. That side of it is hard, and it's a challenge. I have to be up for that."

In that context, SACA has provided a friendlier home, as a shopwindow for the best unattached South Asian talent in the country; Perera, born in Sri Lanka before moving to the UK as a teenager, has been there since the start. Far closer to a traditional team-sport atmosphere than trialist life, it's little surprise that he describes it as "so much freer and easier to perform in".

Among others, from that structure came Yadvinder Singh, signed by Worcestershire at 28, and Arafat Bhuiyan, picked up by Kent at 26, Perera's age. So, even if recent history tells us that counties are far likelier to hand a rookie contract to one of their own teenagers than an oven-ready batter in his mid-twenties, you can only admire the willpower to carry on trying.

"I'm still probably going to push for a couple more years," he says, "because I just want that feeling of actually getting signed. I don't want to work so hard, do all the right things and give up when maybe the opportunity was just around the corner."

The irony would be if that opening came now, with a portfolio to his name, almost exclusively, of runs under pressure.

Miles away from the "surreal" experience of watching Brook, his former captain, in Perth's Ashes Test over the winter, his runs have been piled on less exotically: New Malden, North Mymms, Sywell, Attenborough, Ombersley and just about everywhere in between. According to Cricket Archive – a detailed record, if likely incomplete in this case – Perera has played 166 matches during the English summers since 2022, notwithstanding a season-ending broken finger: the county grind a doddle by comparison.

In that sense, he couldn't be readier, battle-hardened by the pursuit of a goal always seeming to veer away from him. At this juncture, you'd do well to find many players for whom this would mean more, who'd treat the opportunity with such respect.

"All my life, I have been so under pressure – every ball, every game – where it feels like, if I don't score runs, then that's me done. But once you get the contract, there's a bit of time and space; it's one game after another. Whereas, for a trialist, it's one game. Because I've been there and done that, consistently and time and time and time again, I would just love to have that feeling."

When someone wants something so much, you can only wish them well.

17/01

The much-needed tranquillity of Derbyshire is a chance Shoaib Bashir can ill afford not to take

OSCAR RESS: The off-spinner, an unused member of England's Ashes squad, has signed a two-year deal with the Division Two club

"He's a current international with immense potential, and we've worked hard to make this deal happen," said Mickey Arthur, Derbyshire's head of cricket, when marking the addition of Shoaib Bashir.

Despite Arthur's positivity - although he was hardly going to outline the obvious risks - this feels like a far better move for Bashir than Derbyshire.

When you factor in his uneven county record, a rawness not normally attached to the signing of a current international, and a confidence-deflating winter, it's a bold move from the club. 

His England central contract, which covers at least half of his two-year stint at the club, at least mitigates some of the financial risk.

But, with the club on the cusp of promotion from Division Two last season, it could prove to be an unhelpful addition. 

However, in the same breath, it's a lifeline of sorts for Bashir. 

While Andy Hurry, Somerset's director of cricket, revealed there was a contract offer on the table, events in Australia have laid the platform for an uncertain future.

Derby should provide some much-needed tranquillity after a whirlwind period since his Test debut in February 2024. It was a life-changing two years, constantly underpinned by external pressure, caused by the uniqueness of his selection after he was picked based on promise, rather than meaningful performance.

He now has the opportunity, away from the bright lights of international cricket, to be a normal 22-year-old professional cricketer again. He needs to bowl lots of overs and be given the platform to make mistakes, with the stakes of those errors being lower.

Under the guidance of Arthur, renowned for his ability to develop young players and with decades of experience at the highest level, he should be able to work on his game, improve and, most importantly, learn his craft.

Arthur can also be a harsh taskmaster. It will, undoubtedly, be worlds apart, in terms of leadership style, from Brendon McCullum.

Jeetan Patel, England's spin bowling coach, has been accused of not progressing Bashir's game sufficiently; you don't imagine that same accusation being levelled at Arthur.

That intensity has the potential to go one of two ways. Arthur, infamously, upset several members of Australia's Test team in 2013 when he asked them to do 'homework'. 

The unwavering positivity and backing from England (before the Ashes) made Bashir, in his own words, feel "10-foot tall". 

"I feel like I am very well backed here," he said after taking a five-for against Zimbabwe last summer. "I feel backed in county cricket too, but England cricket is my happy place. I walk into this England team and feel 10-foot tall because of the backing I get."

Derbyshire won't be an unpleasant environment for him, but no team bans negativity quite like England. The environment, even if the current regime is broken up over the coming weeks and months, will be very different.

The pressure will be on him in a slightly more existential way. Sure, he will be tasked, on the field, with taking wickets, winning matches and helping the county take that step into top-flight cricket. But without the same constant external scrutiny. 

It will arrive when the safety of a two-year deal begins to count down. The emphasis will then shift to staying in professional cricket, assuming his international prospects continue to dwindle.

This is a player who forged his path back into the professional game, with the help of Berkshire, after being let go from Surrey's academy. That is all well and good as an 18-year-old, with the promise of improvement, but it becomes so much harder the second time as a 24-year-old. 

He will need to show at some point over the next two seasons that he is capable of being kept on and trusted.

And that starts with getting into the team ahead of, or alongside, Jack Morley. The left-arm spinner managed 27 Division Two wickets - more than Bashir's career County Championship tally - including two five-wicket hauls, last season. He has significant support from Arthur, who dubbed him a future England bowler last season, and was involved in the ECB's first spin camp in July 2025.

While the pair could feasibly play together, neither are strong with the bat. Morley averages 7.65 from 30 first-class innings, Bashir 8.26 from 54.

The Ashes, when the tourists never played a front-line spinner, displayed the systemic issues with spin in English cricket. One outright spinner being picked as a specialist in the County Championship is hard enough, let alone two.

The club have also handed a very lucrative deal to Mohammed Abbas as one of their overseas players. Home conditions will surely be tailored to get the most out of him.

Whatever role he fulfils, Derbyshire know that they have not signed the finished product. He will need support, guidance and, without a doubt, a bit of love. Nineteen Tests deep, he remains a work in progress.

This might yet prove to be a masterstroke for both the club and player. The security of the deal will naturally help Bashir, especially in the short term. But as that safety begins to wane, he will need to prove that he is capable of taking this latest opportunity.