Adil Rashid

By Gary Watton
October 27 2015

Nothing and indeed no-one quite divides opinion nowadays like our very own Adil Rashid. Quite frankly, Rashid's opening two test match outings come as little surprise to me. We have seen the whole range of Rashid's repertoire - the good, the bad, and the ugly. You could almost say that young Rashid has quickly become compelling viewing - even a pivotal figure in England's test fortunes, or lack of them.

So far we have seen Adil hit all over the park, incurring the worst debut bowling figures ever. He has rarely been an accomplished performer in the first innings of a contest. He is an altogether different bowler in a second innings, and his first test five-for confirmed that. Then in the second test, Rash got out rashly and cheaply for a first-innings duck. He then made amends with a responsible and somewhat uncharacteristic second-innings knock that came close to securing an unlikely draw. In the event, Adil impressed all and sundry with his patient and mature 61. Unfortunately he undermined his heroics with another rash shot which condemned his country to defeat, but his coach Trevor Bayliss has quickly jumped to his defence and accurately pointed out that if many of the top order had batted as well, then England would not have lost at all.

Rashid will continue to be an enigma - however long his test career lasts, whether it be one more outing, or many more in due course. He will continue to be an erratic leg spinner who bowls wicket-taking deliveries in between being thumped all around the ground. He is not likely to be an economical bowler who can tie a batsman down and keep an end quiet. Instead, he has the capacity to run through a batting order, and indeed tailenders continue to be flummoxed by his array of tricks.

As a batsman, Adil has already underlined his middle-order, all-rounder credentials. However, yet again, I fear that Adil's immediate test future is conditioned by events beyond his control. If Moeen Ali continues to emulate Lyth, Compton, and Robson as an underperforming opener, then he will presumably be shunted back down the batting order, probably leaving no room at the inn for Rashid. However, if Moeen Ali can thrive as an opener (and I seriously doubt that he can) then Adil can continue to be accommodated as an all-rounder and second spinner. He will certainly get a third outing against Pakistan and presumably more opportunities in tests on the Indian sub-continent. Whether the selectors feel sufficiently confident to field Adil in a test match in Blighty or in South Africa is another matter entirely.

Elsewhere, Joe Root just goes from strength to strength. His consistency has propelled him to the top of the test batsman charts. This is a lofty position that Jonny Bairstow is unlikely to ever see. JB has once more produced a few half-baked knocks that promised much but which did not develop into anything substantial. Bairstow and the continually misfiring Bell must be wearing the selectors' patience extremely thin. Perhaps the saving grace for Jonny is that Buttler is in wretched form and perhaps Bairstow will be reshuffled to the wicketkeeper-batsman role. However, the Yorkshire prodigy needs to compile a century very soon, as he is yet to prove that he can bat for long periods in a test.