The England WAT 'A' Team for 2006 included one highly contentious selection: Adil Rashid. So far this season he seems to be justifying that selection.

In the opening game of the season he managed 105 runs and 7 wickets: see http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/.../scorecard.stm

He's more recently managed 5-88 on an early-season day 1 pitch: see http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/.../scorecard.stm

So far, so good.

True Rachael - but like keedy who was also selected in 'The England WAT 'A' Team', he will be in the shadow of Panesar. just like Keedy was in the shadow of Giles.

__________________
Ern

The difference between Rashid and Panesar/Keedy is that he can bat.

The difference between Rashid and Panesar/Keedy/Giles is that he is a leg spinner.

One word of warning. Just because English batsman are incapable of playing leg spin doesn't mean that internationals will fall foul in the same way. Benkenstein, for example, was dismissed by Rashid today but he scored 80-odd before doing so.

Let's not turn Rashid into the new Schofield.

Totally agree,though i think we are in a better position now than we were when Schofield was selected as we have a decent spinner already in the side in Panesar.Back in 2000 Giles wasn't a full member of the side and we had no decent spinning option so he was thrown in too early but we can let Rashid learn his trade now before selecting him.

A worry could be that they decide to play Foster at 6 Flintoff at 7 and Rashid at 8 to improve our batting line up and he is exposed too quickly but i am hoping commonsense prevails.

P.S. I'll take a bow for championing Rashid's cause much as i did with Panesar 12 months earlier.

Greg, I'd like to read those posts if you can provide links, thanks.

__________________
Administrator

Quite right, the fact was that with Keedy/Giles debate (and also Northants Brown) is that Keedy and Brown were perceived as better finger spinners (look at their first class averages and there is not much in it*) but Giles can bat and field. Giles got the nod.

Rashid and Panesar are different bowlers - leg spinner rather than finger spinner, and so the debate will be different, and there will be a much bigger deal made about playing a "mystery" spinner (a mystery mainly to English batsmen!!).

Also Rashid clearly can bat. So if anything Panesar might find his place under pressure because he is a finger spinner who can't bat. While Rashid could be rushed into the team (a la Schofield) because he is a leg spinner and like Giles and Batty, may get promotion based purely on him being "three dimensional".

However, with the loss of Big Dunc, Moores may not be so obsessed with three dimensions, and may be a fan of specialists in key positions.

*Brown 374 F/C Wickets at 32 -(http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/north...ayer/9262.html)
Giles 539 F/C Wickets at 29 - (http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/engla...yer/13368.html)
Keedy 466 F/C Wickets at 31 - (http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/co...yer/15840.html)

Rashid is batting at 7 for Yorkshire in the current match at the Rosebowl (see scorecard) but he's notched up another half-century and has once again outscored Brophy (3 times in 3 outings now) so I'd not bet against him featuring as a top 6 bat for much of the remainder of the season - and he's only just turned 19!

Rashid's leg spin bowling will get the headlines (and rightly so: he bowled more overs than any Yorkshire colleague in the match against Surrey and is on course to do the same at the Rosebowl) but let's not treat him as a bowler who can bat - he got called up to the first team when they had a batting crisis (for hitting three centuries in a week if I recall correctly) and must be averaging 50+ with the bat in the County Championship this season!

In short, Rashid (as a batsman) already looks way, WAY more promising than (for example) Flintoff did at the same stage of his career... and if Rashid were to get a run in the Test side... on current form he would surely warrant a place ABOVE Flintoff in the batting order!

LOL anyone looked better than Flintoff at the start of his career, however some could tell that he would one day make it to the TOP, and he did.
Rachael - current form playing for Yorkshire is far removed from playing at international level for England playing against the likes of Australia, or even the West Indies.

With respect IMO it is ludicrous to say Rashid would warrant a place above Flintoff if in the unlikely event he would be picked for England in the immediate future,Rashid IMO has a season or so to go, before he can even be considered for England.

__________________
Ern

I agree that it would be ludicrous to select Rashid now, his bowling isnt polished enough for test cricket. He didnt exactly set the world alight on Englands A tour when they played on spin friendly pitches against batsman who CAN play spin, in fact you could say he struggled even if he was coming back from an injury. Hopefully some time watching the master bowl may help, especially if he spends some time talking to him about leg spin.

Whilst Rasid has had a very useful first season, a lot of players have done that and subsequently faded into oblivion, hopefully by 2008/2009 Rasid will have shown that he's no one season wonder and will have developed his game enough to be a test class all rounder.

When the time is right Rashid could solve our keeping problems, assuming Flintoff is still playing, he and Rashid could bat at 6 and 7 letting the keeper bat at 8 and I'm sure the likes of Read are good enough to bat at 8.

__________________
Mark.

You can't shove him into the England side above Flintoff when he has a first class batting average of 30 and as yet hasn't scored a century,may as well pick Bresnan at 7 then as he is averaging 40 this season and give Freddie a break (which he needs) but not at the cost of Rashids career.

Just because Rashid has started the season promisingly he is no certainty to be the real deal as far as international cricket is concerned,give him time to develop both his batting and bowling and we may have a star on our hands but rushing him in too quickly could harm him long term just for a short term solution to England's batting problems.