Adil Rashid: England spinner not thinking about playing Test cricket

LONDON (Agencies): England leg-spinner Adil Rashid says he is not thinking about whether he will play Test cricket again and does not know if he will available for this winter’s Ashes tour.

The 33-year-old has not played any red-ball cricket since January 2019 because of a shoulder injury. He took 1-14 from three overs as England beat India in the first of five Twenty20s in Ahmedabad on Friday.

“At the moment I’m enjoying playing white-ball cricket,” he said. The T20 World Cup will take place in India in October and November, followed by the Ashes. Rashid, who played every match of England’s 2019 World Cup winning campaign, has taken 60 wickets from 19 Tests for England at an average of 39.83. In October he signed a new one-year white-ball contract with Yorkshire but has not played a County Championship match for the side since 2017.

“I need to know for myself if I can play Test cricket, if I can bowl those long spells of 15, 25, 35 overs in a day if required,” he said. “That’s something that needs to be weighed up.” He had opted to focus on limited-overs cricket at the beginning of 2018, but was selected for England’s Test series against India later that summer and went on to play nine consecutive Tests.

On a possible return to the Test team for the tour to Australia, he added: “It’s a long way away, a lot can happen. You don’t know where people will be, their form or injuries. “How my mindset works, I don’t think about that kind of stuff.

I think we have to see what happens closer the time.” England beat Sri Lanka 2-0 before losing to India 3-1 in Test series over the winter. They play a two-match series against New Zealand followed by five Tests against India at home this summer.