Adil Rashid has been hasty but Ashes snub was harsh

HUW TURBERVILL: Other players could follow Yorkshire leg-spinner and reject red-ball game

^{Rashid will not play red-ball cricket for Yorkshire in 2018}

Adil Rashid’s shock decision to give up the red-ball game two days before his 30th birthday seems premature and could, ultimately, leave him unsated.

Only Kevin Pietersen can answer how much satisfaction he truly derived from being a T20 freelancer, roaming the world to take part in the Indian Premier League, Big Bash, the Caribbean Premier League, the Pakistan Super League – and fleetingly – the NatWest T20 Blast.

Rashid has agreed a one-year deal to play only 50- and 20-over cricket for Yorkshire this summer, reports The Telegraph. They expect him to be available to the county for only 26 days, once his commitments with England have been factored in.

Rashid is a pivotal player in Eoin Morgan’s England white-ball squads; he has taken 87 wickets in 59 one-day internationals at an average of 31.78 and an excellent economy rate of 5.60. And in 27 T20Is he has 22 wickets at 30.54, with an economy rate of 7.90.

Morgan sees him as a game-changer and partnership breaker.

^{The Yorkshire player remains pivotal to England's white-ball teams}

Surprisingly Rashid was overlooked at the recent Indian Premier League auction, however, despite a base price of only £83,000.

It is his Test career that will frustrate his supporters, though. A return of 38 wickets in 10 matches is extremely healthy, although his average is high (42.78). Crucially Moeen Ali has been seen as more dependable, especially in the first innings of matches. England’s preference for Mason Crane this winter – leading to an expensive debut at Sydney – must be perceived as a major snub to Rashid… especially as England Test captain Joe Root also plays for Yorkshire, so he must know his character and abilities inside out.

It should be noted that all Rashid’s 10 Tests have been against Pakistan, Bangladesh and India – generally high-class players of spin, in Asia. His high spot was his second-innings 5 for 64 on his Test debut against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.

"At this moment in time in my career, I just feel that white-ball cricket is where I am best, enjoying it most and where I feel I can develop and offer a lot more"

He must still have some Test cricket in him…

The March edition of The Cricketer features this letter from Reg White: “I was baffled by your post-mortem on the Ashes. How can your contributors ignore Adil Rashid? Here is a guy who, in the previous winter, took 23 wickets in a series on dead wickets against the world’s top players of spin. Rashid bowls brilliantly through the summer in ODIs and T20s. Yet he still doesn’t go. Instead the selectors send a lad of 20 with no Test experience. Please someone, speak up!”

To which our editor, Simon Hughes, replied: "No one has an adequate explanation. Perhaps someone should ask the England Test captain, his county colleague Joe Root!"

Rashid annoyed Yorkshire by asking to be left out of their final County Championship match of 2016 (the decider against Middlesex), citing “personal reasons”. Andrew Gale, then Yorkshire captain who is now coach, posted on Twitter: “Training all done, head down to Lord’s tomorrow, can’t wait. This squad is ready to run through a brick wall for the county. Yes, he wants to rest. That’s his decision. I’ll take 11 lads on the field who will give everything to win.”

^{Rashid has taken 38 Test wickets for England}

A fear for England now will be that others follow suit. Eoin Morgan has effectively done so already – he does not play for Middlesex in red-ball cricket any longer. Jos Buttler has played just five matches in two years for Lancashire.

Alex Hales was banking on a Test recall this winter to Australia, after an underwhelming 11-Test spell from late 2015 to the autumn of 2016, but it never came…

Jason Roy has his backers for a Test call-up, but the longer he is overlooked, the more likely it seems he might be tempted to follow the freelance white-ball route.

Ditto bowlers like Mark Wood, increasingly vulnerable to injury as the years advance.

Mike Atherton has suggested a possible solution in The Times, headlined: ‘One squad for all three formats: my plan to help save Test cricket’. It is a similar concept to the ‘Super Series’ suggested by Andrew Strauss in 2015. It failed to take off, however, and now the exodus could begin.