da bet nacional： Ian Botham has welcome Adil Rashid’s Test recall, calling him the best spinner in England
da apostaganha： George Dobell27-Jul-20182:08
Botham backs Rashid’s Test call
Ian Botham has welcomed the Test recall of Adil Rashid and suggested he will try to persuade him to join Durham for the 2019 season.Botham, the former England allrounder who now acts as chairman of Durham, feels Rashid is “the best spinner in England” and added he did not have much sympathy for Yorkshire, who expressed public dissatisfaction at the selectors’ decision.Rashid’s selection has drawn criticism from some quarters. Yorkshire’s director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, had said he was “pretty disappointed” by the call-up despite Rashid telling the club he only wanted to play limited-overs cricket for them this season, while the club’s former captain, Michael Vaughan, dubbed Rashid “unprofessional”.Brisbane ’86 trumps Headingley ’81
He may forever be associated with Headingley ’81, but it is not Ian Botham’s favourite Test match. England play the 1000th Test in their history next week and Botham, when asked to pick his favourite, went for the first Test of the 1986-87 Ashes in Brisbane.
“When we played Australia in that first Test, we had been written off,” Botham said. “We couldn’t bat, couldn’t bowl and couldn’t field according to the journalist Martin Johnson – please remind him of that – but we went out there and we won that game and everything else.
“That is the best tour I have ever been on. We won the triangular one-day series and the Ashes were wrapped up by Melbourne. The America’s Cup was on, too [which saw the Australian team defeated by their American counterparts]. It was lovely to see the Aussies grovel.”
But Botham feels the selectors are “absolutely right” and believes both sides could field at least two spinners in the first Test at Edgbaston.”He’s the best spinner in England at the moment,” Botham said of Rashid. “He’s possibly the best one-day bowler in the world – he’s certainly right up there – so why shouldn’t he play? His Test record isn’t bad.”It won’t make any difference to him that it’s a red ball instead of a white one. He’s not a swing bowler. He will get the ball to dip and spin because of the purchase he gets on it. The bigger seam on the Duke’s ball might be better for him.”There’s a strong case for England to play two spinners at Edgbaston because of the way it turns. It wouldn’t surprise me if India play three spinners.”I hope he does really well. I like the kid. His bowling has come on leaps and bounds so I wish him all the very, very best.”With Rashid told by the England selectors he will have to play first-class cricket at county level in 2019 to be considered for Test selection, Botham hopes he can tempt him north to Durham.Sir Ian Botham at the launch of Botham Wines•Botham Wines
“We will definitely talk to him,” Botham said. “Of course we will.”It is very competitive out there and everyone wants to get out of the second division. We won’t do it this year but we’ll do it next year with the way we are going and the way we are restructuring. We need to make it a side that people like Adil Rashid will look at and say ‘it is only up the road and I can see where they are going and I would happily go there’.”It is very hard to have much sympathy for Yorkshire. I have lost players – we have lost five key players at Durham – that have been poached around the north. I say poached and I stick by it.”I have seen some pretty ridiculous stuff written over the last couple of days and I am very much on Adil’s side.”Sir Ian Botham was speaking at the launch of his new wine range, Botham Wines. To pre-order from the range, visit bothamwines.com
