England all-rounder Adil Rashid has opted out of first-class cricket for Yorkshire this season and will represent the county in limited-overs cricket only.
The leg-spinner approached Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon to discuss his plans ahead of next year’s Cricket World Cup in England and Wales, and the County have agreed to renegotiate new terms.
A club statement released by Yorkshire said: “Yorkshire County Cricket Club can confirm that leg-spinning all-rounder Adil Rashid will not play red-ball cricket for the White Rose in 2018.
“The club remain firmly in favour of Rashid continuing to play red-ball cricket for the county, but respect his desire and we are in the process of renegotiating a contract which reflects his decision to solely play white ball cricket.”
29-year-old Rashid is with the England team in New Zealand seeking to reach the final of the final of the T20 Tri-Nations series, with England’s fate resting on whether Australia can defeat the Blackcaps at Eden Park tomorrow.
Introduced by Andy Flower to international cricket in 2009, Rashid has seen been in and out of England’s ODI and T20 squads and explained he had made this decision in order to further develop his ability in limited-overs formats.
At this moment in time in my career, I just feel that white-ball cricket is where I am best, enjoying it most and where I feel I can develop and offer a lot more,” Rashid explained.
“That was my main thought process. It’s not me saying I’m finished from red ball, it’s just me saying that this summer I’m going to concentrate on white ball and see where that takes me.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make but it’s something I felt I had to do.”
