Past, present and future of English spin unite

As Shoaib Bashir bowled to Jeetan Patel - while Adil Rashid (leg slip), Rehan Ahmed (first) and Liam Dawson (padded up ahead of his turn to bat in the nets) watched close by - the centre-but-one pitch at Sophia Gardens was a picture of the past, present and future of English spin.

The 'past' being Patel, with the Anglo twist being that New Zealand's former offie now oversees England's tweakers. His focus for a chunk of Tuesday morning's session was on the return of Bashir, as England's primary Test spinner reboots from a broken finger sustained during the Lord's Test against India.

Patel's work with Bashir a day before the start of the T20I leg of South Africa's tour was as much a nod to the importance of this winter's Ashes as the Kiwi's all-encompassing role. He has also worked with Rehan and Dawson across both red- and white-ball codes, the latter coming in for the fourth India Test as a replacement for Bashir, ending an eight-year absence from the format. Both will be keen to make these next five days count in front of Brendon McCullum to secure their own Ashes spots.

The odd one out is Rashid. All his work with Patel has been in limited-overs cricket. Tests are now a thing of the past, the last of his 19 appearances - January 2019, against West Indies in Barbados - a matter of months after Patel had called time on his own first-class career. And not even the carrot of an Ashes entices legspinner in the way it did his good mate and Beard Before Wicket co-host, Moeen Ali.

"What would my answer be?" Rashid replied, bemused, when asked if an 'Ashes?' text might work on him two years on from reeling Moeen out of retirement.

"It would be a no. I'm quite comfortable and confident of what I have been doing the past seven years or when I finished red-ball cricket. I'm confident in that and my own game.

"But I'm sure it wouldn't come to that because the spinners coming through now are very good and when they go there, they'll put good performances in as well. So, I'm confident they've got it sorted."

They do, to a point. Bashir has been backed to the hilt, but England are reluctant to put their spin responsibilities in the hands of 21-year-olds across the board. Rehan's omission from the opening XI in Cardiff is no slight on him in the midst of a generational purple patch across formats this season.

"I'm confident that if he does get a chance for a longer period, he will flourish," beamed Rashid, who spent training working alongside Rehan, and the trio of Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks and Dawson, who will share the spin loads on Wednesday, offering orthodox turn both ways.

"When we're bowling in the nets, we're all together bowling to the batters so it's just a bit of a conversation of how we go about things. Feeding off each other, certain batsmen, where we should look to bowl, where are their strengths and weaknesses, what we should look to do.

"I've been around a few years, Rehan's coming through, lots of spinners are coming through - so it's just having discussions back and forth about certain things, tactically, and mindset wise as well. That's going both ways - it's not just myself going to them, but it's them speaking to me, in that sense."

There will be understandable frustration that Rehan must wait a little longer for a first limited-overs cap in 2025, particularly with the hot hand coming into this series following an impressive Hundred campaign for Trent Rockets (189 runs and 12 wickets).

English cricket loves looking too far ahead, and there is understandable desire to have Rehan plugged into the XI ahead of next year's subcontinental T20 World Cup. He will likely get a go either in Manchester or Nottingham, where the straight boundaries are more forgiving. At the same time - why rush to crown the prince when the king still thrives?

The white-ball dynasty might have crumbled, but Rashid remains a stoic presence. Since 2024's semi-final defeat to India, England have played 14 completed T20Is, winning eight and losing six. The schedule has meant a full-strength squad has not been brought together in this period, but Rashid has played all but two. It is a streak he is likely to keep up for the rest of the year, including next week's brief tour of Ireland, then October's tour of New Zealand.

Establishing the right balance adds extra credence to persisting with Rashid at every available opportunity, his brilliance notwithstanding, which was reinforced during the recent the ODI series loss to South Africa bears out. A veteran of 301 international caps is trending towards what would be his sixth T20 World Cup appearance just as vital and as hungry as ever.

"I'm going alright. I'm 37… for my personal stuff, I like to take it a game at a time, a day at a time. I don't look too far ahead in terms of World Cups, this and that. It's making sure that whatever's ahead - tomorrow's game, for example - and then day by day, I let things just unfold as it is and let nature take its course. Ultimately if I'm there trying my best, giving my best, performing and hopefully I can carry that on.

"Personally, I'd like to play cricket for as long as possible as long as the body can hold it and as long as you're performing to a certain level. And that's what it is. So hopefully at 37 I'm not looking at age, as long as I'm moving well, I'll try my best."