Answering a red alert would be Rash move

ADIL RASHID would reject an Ashes invitation from England this winter and not return to the Test stage after seven years.

- By Phil Blanche

Rashid played the last of his 19 Tests in January 2019 and has not played a first-class game since, instead focusing on white-ball cricket.

But the 37-year-old leg spinner has never formally announced his Test retirement, leading to speculation that he could one day return to the longer format of the game.

Fellow spinner Moeen Ali answered captain Ben Stokes’ call in 2023 and ended his Test retirement after 18 months for the Ashes battle with Australia on home soil.

Asked what he would say should Stokes make the same call to him this winter, Rashid said: “It would be a no. I’m quite comfortable and confident of what I have been doing for the past seven years.

“I’ve finished red-ball cricket, so I’m quite confident in my own game in that sense.