David Willey expects Adil Rashid's red-ball exit to be first of many
Saturday 17 February 2018 08:19, UK
Adil Rashid's decision to turn his back on red-ball cricket could be the first of many, says England all-rounder David Willey.
Rashid has become the first England player to agree a deal to play only 50-over and T20 matches for his county.
He will sign a one-year contract with Yorkshire and unless he features in the England Test team, will not play red-ball cricket this season.
Rashid's announcement raises further uncertainties over the future of Test cricket as the pinnacle of the game, and Willey, Rashid's team-mate with club and country, sees it as a natural step that others could soon pursue.
"It's to be expected. It is too much to play everything and that's cricket now," he said.
"If you look around now with all the white-ball cricket around the world people can make a career out of that.
"People make decisions in all different careers as to what they enjoy and what suits them and it wouldn't surprise me if more guys do it over the next few years with the amount of white-ball cricket that's available throughout the year.
"Whether more people decide to do it or not is another matter but it's certainly been discussed.
"It's just the way the game seems to be going and these Twenty20 competitions are appealing to people not only for the cricket but also financially. At the end of the day we have a short time playing sport - it's not something we do until we're 60 years old - and there comes a time when you have to make decisions for yourself and your family."
England felt compelled to rest Joe Root, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali for the ongoing T20 Tri-series while Australia have effectively had to select parallel squads due to the imminent Test campaign in South Africa.
Willey has a long-held ambition of following in the footsteps of his father Peter, who played 26 Tests for England from 1976-86, but increasingly finds himself pigeon-holed as a white-ball player.
When he swapped Northamptonshire for Headingley he spoke of his desire to hone his four-day game but has played just six championship fixtures in two years, partially due to his increased role in England's one-day set-up.
"It's probably nearly impossible to play Test cricket when you're playing so much white-ball cricket," he said.
"Last year we were barely available for any four-day cricket because of the Champions Trophy so it then becomes difficult to play regular red-ball cricket, which you need to be doing if you want to be pushing for Tests," he said.
"If you're only playing two or three games a year, you're probably not making much of a contribution to a championship title and you're certainly not going to be able to push for Test cricket, so if you are in that position you're probably thinking 'what am I playing it for?"'
