Rashid not interested in returning for Ashes

LEG SPINNER PUTTING FOCUS ON WHITE BALL AHEAD OF T20 SERIES

- By PHIL BLANCHE

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

Rashid made his last Test appearance in January 2019 and has not played a first-class game since then, 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 on Tuesday, ahead of England’s T20 series against South Africa, what he would say should Stokes make the same call to him this winter, Rashid said: “It would be a no. I think 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.