Leg-spinning all-rounder Adil Rashid has today agreed a new one-year all-format deal with the Club.
The new contract will see the 30-year-old make himself available for all forms of the game, continuing his 12-year affiliation with the White Rose county.
Rashid, capped in 2008, re-negotiated his club contract at the start of the year so that he was only involved in one-day formats.
But he was selected for England’s recent summer Test series against India, playing all five Tests in a 4-1 victory. He has been selected for the pre-Christmas tour to Sri Lanka and he will hope good form for Yorkshire can strengthen his claim for next summer’s home Ashes.
“There’s been a lot of talk and speculation but Adil is a very valuable cricketer for us,” said Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon.
“Now he’s in the Test team, how much he’ll be available for us next season is unclear. But when he is available we’d be delighted to have him and for him to be part of what would hopefully be a successful summer.
“For now, it will just be for a year because it’s still not clear what career path he’s going to take. He’s back in the Test team and continues to do well, so we’ll see where that takes us. Obviously going into 2020 and with the new competition, players are waiting to see how that will affect contracts.
“I think for now it’s good to have the one year and see how the winter goes for Adil. We’ll probably have another look at it after the World Cup and see where he is, particularly with England and how much he’s involved with them. In the short-term it’s good to know when he’s available he’ll be playing for us.”
Rashid, who took six wickets on his Championship debut for Yorkshire as a teenager in 2006, has taken 500 First-Class wickets at an average of 34.98. All of his 10 hundreds have come for the White Rose. In all T20 cricket, at international and domestic level, he has taken 178 wickets and scored 677 runs. In the one-day arena, he has returned 255 wickets and 1,584 runs.
Rashid made his Test bow in late 2015 on tour of the UAE against Pakistan and has made 15 appearances in all to date.
Rashid, who took 10 wickets for 50 runs in seven Championship matches in 2017, was recently told by national selector Ed Smith that he must be available across the board from the start of next summer to be considered for Test cricket.
Moxon continued: “It was a big surprise that he wanted to play white ball only and asked us for a white-ball only contract. That changed very quickly and unexpectedly so that created a bit of confusion and instability for a little while. But I think we’ve been clear from the outset that we wanted to keep Adil at the club. When it became known he had to have a red-ball contract, we were more than happy to put that in place.
“Speaking to Adil he’s keen to stay here and has been here all his life. He’s in no mood to change that. We’re really pleased to keep him. We all know he’s a matchwinner for us. Leg-spin bowlers, wrist-spin bowlers are vital part of the game and that’s what we want from Adil, that potential to be a matchwinner for us in all formats.”
