England’s forgotten Ashes tourist Shoaib Bashir is on the verge of signing for Derbyshire.
Daily Mail Sport can reveal off-spinner Bashir, whose snubbing for the first three Tests against Australia followed his release by Somerset on November 1, has agreed to move to the East Midlands following months of seeking a new county home.
Unless there are any last-minute hitches, the 22-year-old will complete his switch in the coming days.
His signing represents big business for a club changing its image under experienced South African coach Mickey Arthur: they narrowly missed out on promotion in the County Championship last season, finishing third in Division Two, and want to be an aspirational destination for young cricketers with ambition.
Derbyshire believe there is potential for growth in Bashir as a bowler within their environment and equally that their squad will benefit from having someone with 68 Test wickets within it.
The only stumbling block has been some concern at board level about the six-figure salary such a player carries, and the prospect of it coming out of the 2027 budget should he lose his central contract next autumn.
England’s forgotten Ashes tourist Shoaib Bashir is on the verge of signing for Derbyshire
Bashir, whose snubbing for the first three Tests against Australia followed his release by Somerset on November 1, has agreed to move to the East Midlands
Bashir was stuck behind Jack Leach at Taunton and did not get much of a look-in during loan spells at Worcestershire and Glamorgan either
But club insiders are confident it will not scupper the two-year contract agreement and that Bashir can rectify incongruous statistical returns at international and domestic levels: he has only 18 wickets at 84 in the Championship.
Derbyshire’s outlay on him during the 2026 season will be limited to relocation expenses plus bonuses for team performance – whether he is selected by England or not.
Bashir’s 6ft 4in stature and high release point appear to be ideally suited to Derby, now one of the country’s bouncier venues for bowlers. But with competition from Jack Morley, the slow left-armer, highly rated by Arthur, he may have to bide his time to establish himself as the club’s No1 spinner.
This has been a familiar theme so far in a fledgling career that has taken Bashir from Surrey’s youth system to Somerset and then on loan to Worcestershire and Glamorgan.
There is also the prospect of pairing the two together in both four-day and 50-over cricket, a format in which Bashir has appeared just eight times.
The expected announcement of Bashir’s recruitment follows the coup of Mohammad Abbas, 35, reuniting with former Pakistan coach Arthur.
Derbyshire have secured 2025 Championship winner Abbas on a two-year deal despite Nottinghamshire being keen on his return and other top-flight sides showing interest, and also welcome back Australian left-hander Caleb Jewell, a player who scored more runs than anyone else in the country across all county formats last summer.
A Twenty20 deal is also being finalised for the return of Afghanistan mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar, who features for the global franchises of the Mumbai Indians for the majority of the year and whose economy rate of 7.05 in last season’s Blast was the best of any spinner to have sent down 10 overs or more.
Bashir will face competition from left-armer Jack Morley at Derbyshire
Derbyshire head coach Mickey Arthur is very keen on Morley, but the two could play together in red-ball matches
Yorkshire close in on T20 superstar
Yorkshire are also understood to be closing in on an Afghan player for one of their overseas slots in the shape of Fazalhaq Farooqi – the left-armer who plays alongside club captain Jonny Bairstow in the ILT20.
Farooqi finished as the leading wicket-taker at the 2024 T20 World Cup with 17 and featured six times for Nottinghamshire later that year.
He has also tasted victory against England twice in recent times: taking the new ball at both the 50-over World Cup in 2023 and the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
Afghan spinner Fazalhaq Farooqi is closing in on a move to Yorkshire
All eyes on David
Another global T20 star, Australia’s Tim David, is understood to be a target for both of his former county clubs in 2026.
Big-hitting match winner David played twice for Surrey in the 2021 Blast and was a member of the Lancashire team that lost to Hampshire by one run in the following year’s final at Edgbaston.
The 29-year-old has also been a part of the champion Hobart and Bangalore sides at the Big Bash League and Indian Premier League in the past 12 months.
Multiple Australian cricketers have committed to English counties since the start of the Ashes, and several more are expected to finalise deals in the new year.
Lancashire have recruited Victoria seamer Mitch Perry after missing out on Ashes star Michael Neser, who is returning to Hampshire alongside Jake Lehmann, son of Darren and one of the most prolific batsmen in the Sheffield Shield in the 2020s.
Tim David has played four ODIs and 68 T20s – having started his international career playing for Singapore where he was born, before switching to Australia
Jake Lehmann, one of the key men in South Australia’s Sheffield Shield triumph, is on his way to Hampshire
The Aussie influx
Another Aussie with previous experience here, Lehmann’s South Australia team-mate Nathan McAndrew, could be on his way to Glamorgan after surprisingly being surplus to requirements at Sussex, where he took 50 first-class wickets at 22.32 across three seasons as well as claiming 44 in 34 Blast appearances.
South African veteran Colin Ingram, the Welsh county’s leading run scorer in Division Two, still has a year to run on his contract, with fast bowler McAndrew lined up to provide extra firepower following promotion. Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando claimed 24 wickets in 10 outings in 2025.
Liam Scott, another from Sheffield Shield champions South Australia, has earned a first overseas gig with Gloucestershire, relieving compatriot Gabe Bell, of Tasmania, who will take the new ball during an early-season Championship stint lasting until May 18.
Former Sussex and Warwickshire quick Nathan McAndrew (left) could be on his way to Glamorgan for next season
Liam Scott is set for his first overseas gig as he joins Gloucestershire
Two other former Australia internationals, Cameron Bancroft and D’Arcy Short, remain on the books.
Bell has 19 wickets this winter, two ahead of Fergus O’Neill, who is returning to Nottinghamshire following a four-match stint that catalysed their title charge in 2025.
However, one Aussie leaving Trent Bridge is Daniel Sams, who has been snapped up by Somerset for their T20 title defence.