LONDON England rising star Adil Rashid is following in the footsteps of 'role model' Shane Warne by working with coach Terry Jenner.
A good enough leg-spinner himself to have played nine Tests for Australia in the 1970s, Jenner is now perhaps best known as the mentor of leg-spin legend Warne, the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets.
Rashid, who in his first major one-day international, against Australia at the Oval on Friday conceded just 37 runs in his 10 overs and then made an unbeaten 31 as England lost the first of a seven-match series by four runs, first worked with Jenner as a teenager after being awarded a scholarship.
'It has been good. I have worked with him since I was 15,' Yorkshire all-rounder Rashid, still only 21, told reporters at Lords on Saturday, where the second match of the series takes place on Sunday.
'Ive been to see him twice in Australia to work on my bowling and he has been a big influence on my development,' Rashid added.
'To bowl leg-spin you have got to learn the basics. Alignment and head position that is the key for bowling in a consistent area and getting a shape and spin.'
Even though he is now an established member of the Yorkshire side and breaking into the England set-up, having made his full international debut in the World Twenty20 in England in June, Rashid is still more than happy to call Jenner for advice.
'I spoke to him two weeks ago, he was in England coaching at the time in Yorkshire,' Rashid said.
'Just to have a general chat about my performances and where I am at at the moment.'
But Rashid stressed theirs was no master-pupil relationship.
'It is a friendship. I grew up with him and, talking with him, I learn about myself and the game.'
Rashid said hed also taken the chance to get advice from Warne when the Australia great was the captain of English county side Hampshire.
'I spoke to Shane Warne a couple of times. We played Hampshire two years ago and I went to the dressing room and had a little chat with him about my bowling and a general cricket talk.
'We were talking about how to set batsmen up, the different types of delivery and field-placing.
'As I was growing up I was watching Shane Warne bowling on TV and he was my role model.'
Top-class English leg-spinners are rare but Rashid, who played for the Bradford and Bingley club in Yorkshire, said parental encouragement had helped get him started.
'My dad got me into bowling leg-spin when I was nine or ten years old - then the coaches at Yorkshire picked me up. It is a lot of hard work - you have to put extra time in as a leg-spinner.'
In his last two County Championship outings before being included in Englands one-day international squad, Rashid twice scored a hundred and took five wickets in an innings in the same match.
He scored an unbeaten 117 and took five for 41 in Yorkshires win away to Hampshire at Basingstoke before following that up with 157 not out and five for 97 against Lancashire at Headingley.
Rashid gave further evidence of his quality at the Oval and, although he is yet to make his Test debut, he could well replace Monty Panesar as the second spinner in Englands squad for their upcoming tour of South Africa.
However, Rashid said 'It was nice to perform with bat and ball but I have still got a long way to go. Test cricket is the aim for any young cricketer but I am just looking to work hard.'
Australia all-rounder James Hopes, who played at the Oval on Friday, said of Rashid 'I was very impressed with his bowling. Then he came out and batted very well as well.
'Hes still very young and well keep taking note of him. If they keep producing dry wickets then hell be hard to play, but if we get him on a wicket that doesnt suit well find out about him.'
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