RASH ON RED ALERT
Silver wood is read y to Test Adil about return
Rashid has not played Test cricket since January 2019 but has shown once again the skills England are missing with some superb white ball performances this summer.
Silverwood’s side have plans for a warm- weather camp in Dubai in December ahead of the Test tours to Sri Lanka and India between January and March.
And the England head coach ( inset) is hopeful Rashid wants to be there.
“My thoughts on that at situation remain the same but I’d like to see him with a red ball in his hand before we select him,” he said.
“What I don’t want ant to do is cloud what we’re doing now with conversations outside of white ball.
Rashid’s opportunities before selectors name squads for the winter tours are limited with the Bob Willis Trophy Final – between Essex and Somerset who qualified yesterday – the only remaining red ball action of an abbreviated summer.
The leg spinner made the call to restrict his cricket to white ball contracts with both Yorkshire and England, partly as a result of a shoulder injury.
Last summer he was a key part of England’s 50- overs World Cup win but required cortisone injections in his shoulder to get through it.
If that has planted a seed of doubt in his own mind about the wisdom of flogging himself on winter tours, England are in no doubt they would be stronger with him than without.
England’s stay at the top of the T20 world rankings was cut short after two days when they lost the last of the short- form internationals against Australia on Tuesday night.
Yet Eoin Morgan’s World Cup winners will feel more secure at the peak of the 50- overs game ahead of a three- match ODI series at Old Trafford starting Friday.
Ben Stokes is still absent but Morgan has recovered from a dislocated finger, Jos Buttler returns and Jason Roy is back at the top of the order following a side strain.
England named Dawid Malan as a reserve alongside Saqib Mahmood and Phil Salt.
STERN: But new boss Ivic denies he has an army philosophy they won the title.” Asked if Hazan’s version of Watford’s 11th head coach in six years was a fair description, an unsmiling Ivic, 43, countered: “It’s not fair, it’s not really like this.
“I don’t have an army philosophy – my approach is to play attacking football, disciplined football – and discipline begins in the dressing room.
“For me, the important thing is to have pressure in your job. “Without pressure, you cannot grow. If the pressure and the expectation here is to come back to the Premier League, I don’t have a problem with that. Will I smile only if we win the Championship? We will see.”
Ivic already has an early injury crisis with Troy Deeney ( left), Andre Gray, Ismaila Sarr, Gerard Deulofeu, Will Hughes and Adam Masina all missing the opening game against
Middlesbrough, but he is not concerned by Watford’s deserved reputation for a breathless turnover of managers.
Javi Gracia, Quique Sanchez Flores and Nigel Pearson all walked the plank last term, while two- time caretaker Hayden Mullins has left to become assistant manager at Colchester.
Ivic shrugged: “It’s not my business what has happened here before. I will give everything to do my best and I will ask my players to do the same.”