Boycott joins the fray, calling Rashid a ‘spoilt brat’

– Adil Rashid (right) faced further pressure ahead of his controversial recall to the England Test side for their series opener against India at Edgbaston today when it was announced yesterday he would be the lone specialist spinner in their XI.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that off-spinner Moeen Ali had been left out.

That leaves Yorkshire leg-spinner Rashid as England’s sole designated slow bowler, although his county colleague Joe Root, the England captain, can supplement his top-order batting with occasional off-spin.

Top-order batsman Dawid Malan remains in the XI, with all-rounder Ben Stokes and Surrey left-arm quick Sam Curran providing seam bowling support to the veteran new-ball pairing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the first of a five-Test series starting today.

Rashid’s recall provoked a furious response given he signed a limited-overs only contract with Yorkshire for this season.

Yorkshire and England greats Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan are among those who’ve slammed the decision to call-up Rashid without him having first played any red-ball County Championship cricket this term.

Former opening batsman Boycott was scathing in his column for Britain’s Daily Telegraph, accusing Rashid of being a “spoilt brat”.

Vaughan had previously labelled Rashid’s selection “ridiculous”, with Rashid responding angrily by saying his former teammate’s remarks were “stupid”, while suggesting Yorkshire’s less than enthusiastic reaction had been “disrespectful”.

Boycott said Rashid had responded to Vaughan’s comments like a “spoilt brat”.

“Trashing a great England captain and superb batsman does not go down well with the cricketing public,” insisted Boycott, who went into a self-imposed exile from international cricket for three years at the height of his career in the mid 1970s.

“Let me tell Adil that Vaughan will be remembered as one of the greatest England captains and an elegant, superb batsman. In 10 years nobody will remember Adil’s Test performances.” – AFP