James Whitaker on the England Performance Programme
By Will Jackson
National selector James Whitaker thinks that Adil Rashid may be ready for further international honours after he was included in the England Performance Programme squad.
Rashid has not played for England since 2009, but an impressive summer for Yorkshire has catapulted him back into the thoughts of the selectors.
The leg-spinner has taken 75 wickets so far in all competitions as Yorkshire won the LV= County Championship title for the first time since 2001.
Speaking exclusively to ecb.co.uk, Whitaker said: “Adil has helped Yorkshire win the title, he has matured now. He’s gained a lot of confidence and of course he’s been in the England environment before, a number of years ago.
He added: “(Leg spin) is something we’ve got to encourage and look at for the future of cricket in both forms of the game.”
There were also first call-ups for seamers Mark Footitt and Matt Dunn, who have impressed in Division Two this season.
Whitaker said that both men had earned their places: “Mark Footitt has been around a little bit but has shown consistency this year for Derbyshire, and Dunn has come from the under 19s.
“It’s a reward for the seasons they’ve had so good luck to them.”
“There’s some really good young players coming through, full credit to the county coaches who help them develop.”
The spinners in the squad, including Rashid, will fly out to Sri Lanka along with the batsmen for a three week training camp, while the fast bowlers will train in Potchefstroom.
Speaking about the programme, Whitaker said: “It’s something Kevin Shine likes to do, to take them off to Potchefstroom and work on their conditioning.
“A spin camp specifically in Sri Lanka makes sense with our emerging young batters and our emerging spinners.
"David Parson and David Jackson, all those teams at Loughborough put an excellent programme together and have done for a number of years. Many of the England players of recent years have come through that programme
“We’ve got some good youngsters on that programme that will be challenging very soon for England positions in both one-day and test cricket so we’re very confident it will be a good programme again.”