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.
