LONDON: Michael Vaughan has labelled the controversial recall of Adil Rashid to England’s Test squad as ‘ridiculous’.

Yorkshire leg-spinner Rashid was included in a 13-man party announced by England national selector Ed Smith on Thursday for next week’s first Test against India at Edgbaston.

It was a controversial move given Rashid signed a contract with Yorkshire where he opted out of playing red-ball County Championship cricket this season.

Playing in the Championship has long been the traditional pathway to Test selection but Rashid has been recalled on the basis of his recent impressive one-day international performances against Australia and India.

Rashid won the last of his 10 Test caps away to India in Chennai more than 18 months ago but Smith stressed the unusual manner of his call-up was a ‘one-off’ and that the bowler had given guarantees he would be available for the off-season tours of Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Smith also said Rashid would have to commit to the Championship game to be eligible for Test selection from 2019 onwards.

But former England captain Vaughan, himself a former Yorkshire batsman, was unimpressed.

“ Forget whether he is good enough or not I find this decision ridiculous ... !!!”,” Vaughan — a close friend of another Yorkshire player and England captain Joe Root — told his Twitter followers.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2018