"I think I have to earn my right. Go back into county cricket, perform and do well and then get selected"
Monday 10 February 2020 09:20, UK
Adil Rashid told Sky Sports that he will not be returning to England's Test side just yet and must earn a recall based on his county form.
Leg-spinner Rashid played the last of his 19 Tests in the West Indies in January 2019 and has been battling a shoulder injury of late.
The 31-year-old picked up three wickets as England beat South Africa in Johannesburg on Sunday to earn an ODI series draw.
But asked whether he would accept a call-up for March's two-Test tour of Sri Lanka - a place where he picked up 12 wickets in late 2018 as England won 3-0 - Rashid said: "No, not at this moment in time.
"I think I have to earn my right. Go back into county cricket, perform and do well and then get selected on merit.
"It's a bit unfair for me to say I'm available, so, for me, I am concentrating on white-ball cricket but in the future maybe [I will return to Test cricket]."
Rashid was speaking to Ian Ward at the end of the third ODI but, during the interval, Sir Alastair Cook had told Sky Sports that he would not have taken the spinner to Sri Lanka anyway.
However, Cook also said that if Rashid bowls quicker, as he did while claiming three wickets against South Africa in his 100th ODI, that may serve him well if he did return to the Test fold at some point.
"He is a far better one-day bowler than Test bowler and I think England have moved on from him in Test cricket," Cook said of Rashid who has taken 60 Test wickets at 39.83.
"People sit on him more in Test cricket and wait for his bad ball whereas in one-day cricket they have to attack him. The pace he bowled at [in Johannesburg] would give him a bit more of an advantage in Test cricket.
"Adil's great strength is his variety and that he is quite hard to pick but when he bowls a bit slower those variations aren't as key as batsmen can play him off the back foot.
"He can now get people out playing defensive shots when he hasn't been able to do that in the past."
David Lloyd, however, said Rashid's display at Wanderers showed why he should make a Test comeback.
"I know it was an ODI but off that performance, he is a must for the Test team. He gives you everything, so get in his ear!" said Bumble.
England name their squad for the two-test tour of Sri Lanka on Monday. Head to skysports.com and Sky Sports News for coverage and reaction
Watch the first T20I between South Africa and England, in East London, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 3.30pm on Wednesday.
