LONDON: England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has agreed a new one-year, all-format deal with Yorkshire, the English county announced on Monday.

The 30-year-old signed a white-ball contract with the club for the 2018 season but was still selected for all five Tests in England’s 4-1 home victory over India, taking 10 wickets in the series.

“It was a big surprise that he wanted to play white-ball only and asked us for a white-ball only contract,” Yorkshire’s Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon said in a statement. “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.”

National selector Ed Smith said in July that Rashid, who has been called up for England’s tour of Sri Lanka beginning next month, was informed he would need a red-ball contract to be considered for home Tests in 2019.

“There’s been a lot of talk and speculation but Adil is a very valuable cricketer for us,” Moxon said. “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.”

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018