England leg-spinner Adil Rashid says he will make a decision on whether he attempts a return to first-class cricket at the end of the 2020 season.
He is currently on a white ball-only deal at Yorkshire, with his last red-ball game a Test match at the start of 2019 in the West Indies. Rashid didn’t rule out trying to win a place back in England’s Test side, but said his decision would rely on a multitude of factors, including his fitness, with the wrist-spinner having struggled with a shoulder injury in recent times.
“Once September comes, if I have the motivation, my shoulder is 100% and I feel I can get back into red-ball, that is something I would consider,” he said.
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In the past, Rashid’s absence from the first-class scene hasn’t prevented England from coming knocking. In 2018, he won a recall before England’s home Test series against India based on his performances in the ODIs which preceded the five-match rubber, having signed a limited-overs-only contract with Yorkshire before that season.
However, he indicated that any future Test call up could only be countenanced after a successful return at the domestic level. On the question of whether he could play a part in the 2021/22 Ashes in Australia, Rashid was non-committal.
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“After the end of this year it’s about me sitting down and actually thinking about that decision again of playing red-ball or white-ball,” he said. “If I don’t make that decision of playing red-ball and just sticking to white-ball then there’s no Ashes for me. But if I do make that decision and I play red-ball, and my shoulder allows it and I’m fully fit, then that’s something that I could look towards. But that’s something that I’ve got to earn. It’s all in the air at the moment in terms of red-ball.”
