Rashid not on Ashes alert with his focus on regaining T20 crown

Leg-spinner would reject an SOS for the urn quest, as he builds up to T20 World Cup with South Africa series

- Ali Martin

The way the ball is coming out of Adil Rashid's hand this summer - those gyroscopic leg-breaks and googlies still so utterly seductive - there is a case for Ben Stokes to flick him a WhatsApp message that reads simply: "Ashes?"

It was enough to persuade Rashid's best friend, Moeen Ali, to return to the fray in 2023, an SOS answered initially with an LOL. Looking ahead to the Ashes tour this winter Rashid, even aged 37 and having not fizzed down a red ball for six years (no barrier these days), would surely enhance the squad.

Rashid is unquestionably the finest leg-spinner England have produced in the past 50 years: a stellar career spanning nearly two decades that has returned 512 first-class wickets, 427 in international cricket, and delivered two World Cup wins along the way. Oh, and an MBE.

To watch Rashid bowl to South Africa during the recent one-day international series was to take in a master at work - utter control of a skill that takes years to perfect. It would be very English were Rashid to retire on 19 Test caps without winning a single one in Australia - the scene of debuts for Scott Borthwick and Mason Crane in recent times - however much white-ball specialism has been his choice.