Shoaib Bashir believes he is in a stronger position to earn an England recall following his work with Mushtaq Ahmed over the winter.
Bashir went into the 2025/26 Ashes as England's number one spinner after playing a key role for the Test side for the previous couple of years.
He was left out of the opening Test in Perth as England went for an all-seam attack, with eye-brows then raised for the second test as part-time spinner Will Jacks was picked instead of him.
Bashir was not used in any of the five Tests and the winter has given him the opportunity to reset and focus on his main goal of wanting to play Test cricket for England.
Pakistan great and England coach Mushtaq Ahmed has been working with the Under 19s squad in Zimbabwe and Bashir says he has thrived by being able to spend some time with him.
"I got to spend a lot of time with Mushtaq Ahmed, where I worked really closely with him," said Bashir.
"I got to learn so much about my bowling and my mindset with him. That was a massive learning for me.
"After the Ashes I didn’t have much going on, I spoke to Mushy on the phone quite a lot and I just wanted to get some time to spend with him.
"I only spent a week with him but I learned a lot about my action and I’ve made some small technical tweaks that have helped me in pre season so far.
"I'm looking forward to working on those and I feel like they will make a massive difference.
"Mentally I’m in a strong position and I've got a lot of backing from Derbyshire and England. I’ve come back from the time with Mushy in Zimbabwe as a better player. Ive had a lot of time to reflect and physically I'm in a really strong place.
"I’ve seen some good progress and made some good strides. I definitely feel like the period I've spent with Mushy has helped me so much."
Bashir is hell-bent on returning to England's team after a difficult winter.
He says that he is not afraid of competition for places and is up for the challenge of developing into England's main spin option in the coming years.
"Spin bowling is a difficult job in England. It's something you've got to be up for and I'm definitely up for it.
"I am still developing and I never take that for granted. It's just about a lot more game time and enjoying the game.
"Competition for places is healthy and I'm a strong believer in my religion.
"My religion teaches me that what whatever is written, is written by the best of writers, which is god. I just know that I need to work hard, focus on my game and myself."
