Injured Plunkett has bowled last ball for Yorkshire
LIAM PLUNKETT appears to have played his last game for Yorkshire with a hip muscle tear set to rule the fast bowler out for the rest of the season.
The England one-day star, 33, leaves at the end of next month to move to Surrey on a three-year deal after Yorkshire decided against offering him new terms.
As part of a policy to reduce the average age of their squad and the wage bill, they are replacing Plunkett — England’s most prolific bowler in limited-overs matches last year — with Surrey’s South African-raised paceman Mathew Pillans.
Pillans, 27, plays county cricket on a Kolpak deal and will join Yorkshire on a three-year contract.
Pillans cited England ambitions when he began a seven-year qualification period by switching from Durban’s Dolphins franchise in 2016 but he has found opportunities limited.
He failed to take a top-flight wicket in four Surrey appearances in his debut season and has not featured for the club in the Championship since, his dozen scalps coming while on loan at Second Division Leicestershire in 2017.
While Plunkett’s latest injury has curtailed his days at English cricket’s most decorated county, the chances of Adil Rashid extending his are increasing.
Having held clear-the-air talks with Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale, the 30-year-old and his agent Will Quin have also been in dialogue with national selector Ed Smith regarding plans beyond the end of the season, the Mail On
Sunday can reveal. Just over a fortnight ago, Rashid’s Test recall drew ire from his county employers. And in a stinging riposte, he said: ‘If they treat me like they have done, don’t see any value in me and are disrespectful to me, I have to think about the future in terms of which county I play for.’
Now the way looks clear for Rashid to stay at Headingley.
Smith is keen for Rashid to play Championship cricket in 2019 after ending his near two-year exile from Tests for the series against India.
The only offer on the table for Rashid at Yorkshire is a renewal of his limited-overs arrangement and the club will wait to see whether he is upgraded to a central contract by the ECB before preparing another.
If Rashid remains one of England’s white-ball specialists, he will be required to agree a county deal that covers all forms of the game.
Yorkshire have also kept another player with more than a decade of service after Tim Bresnan snubbed three-year contracts elsewhere to commit to two more years with his home county.
Meanwhile, a space for winter target Ben Duckett, 23, has been made in the squad with an announcement expected in the next few days that batsman Alex Lees, 25, is moving to Durham on a long-term deal.