The announcement this week of England’s squad for this autumn’s ODI World Cup contained several shocks and surprises, but for Adil Rashid it can barely have raised an eyebrow. Eoin Morgan, England’s previous white-ball captain, calls him “irreplaceable in the team”; to Jos Buttler he is “the guy who makes things happen”. He is probably England’s greatest white-ball bowler, and over the past decade has been their leading wicket-taker in ODIs (by a margin of 35), ranking third in the world (only two off first place). The only doubt that existed about the 35-year-old getting into England’s World Cup squad concerns not this tournament but the next one in 2027 – and even that, given his intention to “carry on for many, many years”, is probably minimal.
For now he is honing his skills, and recovering from a minor back injury, with Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, where his teammates include Ben Stokes, who was parachuted into the England squad after reversing his decision to retire from the format, and Harry Brook, who was edged out as a result.
