Rashid gets leg up from icon Warne
ENGLAND leggie Adil Rashid has had another meeting with Aussie wizard Shane Warne as he bids to send Sri Lanka into a terminal spin.
Head coach Trevor Bayliss invited Warne to give Rashid the once over and see what he thought in Sharjah during last winter’s series against Pakistan.
Warne, who took 708 Test wickets, bumped into the Yorkshireman at Trent Bridge on Tuesday ahead of the one-day opener against Sri Lanka.
And the 28-year-old from Bradford revealed Warne is keen to give advice to another twirler – even though he is Australian.
Rashid said: “Before the game at Notts, I just had a general chat with him about leg spin.
“He just turned up there and we had a catch-up. It was good to see him and good for him to give me a few helpful tips.
“It’s just about the basics, keeping it simple and bowling the same ball again and again. Then the natural variation will take place with the hand, or the pitch.
“So it is just about that mindset – the positive mindset every time I go out to play for England.
Skills
“I look to show my variations and skills. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t.
“I’m getting better mentally but you can always have a bad day, a bad game, a bad series – so it is about being strong in the mind.”
Warne was a master of positive thinking, but England don’t need much revving up heading into today’s one-day international in Bristol after Friday’s massive 10-wicket win at Edgbaston gave them a 1-0 lead in the series following the tie in Nottingham.
Alex Hales and Jason Roy both scored tons in Birmingham as the bowlers, including Rashid who took a miserly 2-34, kept Sri Lanka down to 254-7 on a flat deck.
Rashid added: “It has been a good 12 months for me, especially with the white ball stuff.
“Every series that has gone by I have looked to improve and gain experience as well and got more confident.
“I have looked to adapt to different conditions and different teams. I really study each individual in play and look at their weaknesses and strengths.” ENGLAND v SRI LANKA – remaining games: Bristol, today, 10.30am; The Oval, Wed, 1pm; Cardiff, Sat, 10.30am.