Can Adil Rashid be England’s spin bowling answer again?

National selector Ed Smith says the door is open for Adil Rashid to return to Test cricket, despite having not featured in the format since January 2019.

Rashid’s last appearance for England with a red ball came on the first match of their tour of West Indies at the start of last year. In the 19 Tests since, he has been overlooked by England with the Somerset pair of Jack Leach and Dom Bess preferred instead, while Lancashire’s Matt Parkinson has featured in squads as the designated leg spinning option.

The situation around Rashid, who has 19 caps and 60 wickets at an average 39, has been complicated over the last two years by his contract situation. In 2018, he signed a white-ball only contract with Yorkshire which seemingly ruled himself out of long-form cricket. However later that summer he was selected for the five-match Test series against India.

Smith and the ECB then stated Rashid would have to commit to red ball cricket in order to be eligible for selection for the winter tours of Sri Lanka and West Indies, which he did at the end of the season. However, he did not play a single first-class match for his county the next summer, in part because of the 2019 World Cup and a right shoulder issue.

Then, having not been selected for the tour of New Zealand and South Africa, he went back onto a white ball contract in February of this year. His last competitive match with a red ball remains his last Test match.

In that time, he has excelled as a white ball specialists for his country, most effectively in ODIs with 74 wickets since the start of 2018.

However, with England due to play Tests in Asia as part of a packed 2021 schedule, with matches against Sri Lanka followed by a series against India, which is likely to be played in the United Arab Emirates, Rashid is being considered. Of his 60 dismissals, 50 have come in Asia, including 24 away to India and 12 in Sri Lanka

“The main thing with Adil is, he’s made really good strides with his shoulder injury,” said Smith. “And he’s developed really well in recovery from that injury. His form is really good in white ball cricket. We’ve all seen the skill and the mastery that he’s displaying. We’ll work with Adil and Yorkshire see how his shoulder is and see if he is ready to play four or five day cricket.”

Whether the player is receptive to the idea remains to be seen. Aged 32, it is understood Rashid wanted to prolong his career in white ball cricket by avoiding long-form cricket where he might bowl much longer spells over a longer period of time and thus degrade his damaged bowling shoulder even further.

The leg spinner has not quite cracked the Twenty20 franchise circuit, and it remains a carousel he wants to jump on. But Smith believes he has not given up on Test cricket.

“Coming back from a reasonably serious injury. There’s a difference between bowling 10 overs and bowling 100 overs. He’s still working o that physical side, but I think in the long-term Adil still has aspirations to play for England in all forms.”