SOMERSET'S 20 year old off spinner Shoaib Bashir has jetted off with England Test party for their series against India.

However, just three years ago his whole cricketing career seemed to be in doubt. “I’m from Woking in Surrey and first started to play cricket when I was a little kid and grew up playing at a club called Guildford City and then when I got older I started to play for Guildford the main club," he said.

“I played age group stuff for them until I was about 15 when I started to play in the first team for Guildford. At the same time I was on the Surrey Academy and then when I was 17 got released from that.

“It was tough for me to be released from the Surrey Academy when I was 17 but I think that gave me a bit more passion and motivation to work a bit harder. You can take it how you like, but if you really want something you put 110% in and that’s what I did.

“It is demoralising and it’s hard for a kid to be told that you’re not good enough, but I used that as a motivation factor. I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I have been given.”

Bash explained how he first came to the attention of Somerset. “It was the semi final of the Under 18 plate competition and Berkshire were playing Somerset at Wells. We rocked up to Wells not in particularly high hopes but I remember that game quite clearly because it took us two and half hours to get there as the traffic was busy so I had to wake up quite early. But that game was very special .

“We bowled first and I think the first ball went to the boundary and we all thought yeah we’re in for a long day here. But I got an opportunity to perform and it was crazy - we had little expectation and just expected to have fun which we did and we won and I got five wickets for 19 or something like that. It was crazy looking back.”

Did Bash ever think that that might be the start of anything? “No not at the time I just took it that we were into the finals now. I’m the sort of guy who takes things small steps at a time, but thank God for everything that he has given me, but I didn’t think that much of it to be honest.”

Following that game former Minehead cricketer Matt Drakeley, who is now Head of Talent Pathway at Somerset and was with the county side at Wells, made contact with Andy Hurry to alert him of Bash’s talent.

He went on: "Soon after I just got a text message saying that there was an opportunity for me to play for Somerset Seconds. Which I didn’t think too much about I just thought oh yes but it was an amazing opportunity again and I took it. The game happened to be in Guildford where I’d grown up playing, so yes, of course, it was on my home patch and against Surrey as well.

“After that I then played for Somerset Seconds against Warwickshire at Taunton Vale and then the back end of that season I got offered a contract and from there everything has just blossomed.”