ADIL RASHID has been the subject of so much hype that he is not in the business of adding to it himself, but the Yorkshire leg-spinner concedes that a strong finish to the season will do his international prospects no harm at all.

Rashid, 20, is rated one of the brightest stars in the English game and has been widely tipped to break into the England side in the not-too-distant future.

Yorkshire captain Darren Gough has said he would take the Bradford-born all-rounder on the winter tour to the West Indies to give him experience of being around the international set-up.

However, Gough has cautioned against rushing Rashid into the England XI too soon and said there was no point taking him on the forthcoming, abbreviated tour of India – a sentiment echoed by Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's director of professional cricket, who feels the player is not quite ready for such a big step.

Rashid wisely plays down his prospects of forcing his way into the England fold but knows he can keep himself in the mix with some consistent displays in the closing weeks of the season as Yorkshire look to climb the County Championship table.

Rashid has struck a rich vein of form, taking 20 wickets in Yorkshire's last three Championship matches, including a career-best 7-107 against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl and 5-95 against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

He is Yorkshire's leading wicket-taker in the Championship with 41 wickets in 12 games at 31.07.

"I'm not looking ahead at the England situation," said Rashid, who has already represented England A on several occasions.

"I know it's a cliché, but I'm just taking it a game at a time, trying to perform well for Yorkshire and looking to score as many runs and take as many wickets as possible.

"If I can keep performing between now and the end of the season, I can keep myself in the frame, so to speak.

"But my main focus is to continue my development as a batsman and bowler and to try to gain more experience."

Moxon believes it would be premature to expose Rashid to Test cricket at this point in his development.

"I wouldn't take him to India," said Moxon.

"I don't think he's quite ready yet. I think Test cricket is a big leap and I'd just like to see Adil continue his development with us and wait until he's 100 per cent ready.

"He has bowled well in the last four or five games and that's been highlighted in the wickets column. His confidence is on the up and, dependent on the weather, he could be a big player for us between now and the end of the season."

This is Rashid's third and most productive summer with the ball. Last year, he took 40 Championship wickets at 39.45 and perhaps lost his way a little after arriving on the scene with a bang in 2006.

But one or two technical adjustments and the experience of working with such as Moxon and Gough is beginning to pay dividends – and he is aiming for at least another 20 wickets in Yorkshire's last four matches, three of which are at Scarborough, a ground where he has a splendid record and where he made his first-class debut.

"Scarborough is my favourite ground," said Rashid.

"I've had two or three five-fors there and I made my debut there, and I'd like to think I can pick up 20 wickets or so in the final few matches of the Championship season.

"I think my bowling has improved from last summer; I've made a few technical adjustments which have improved things a bit, and I'm happy with my form at the moment.

"I've managed to get into a groove and I've gained some confidence in recent games. When you keep getting wickets your confidence improves, and I've just got to keep it going now."

Rashid's only disappointment this year has been his batting. Last season he scored 790 Championship runs at 46.47 – a tally behind only Jacques Rudolph, Anthony McGrath and Younus Khan; this year he has managed only 333 runs at 19.58.

"My batting has not really fired yet this summer," Rashid admitted. "It's been up and down and, although I've had a couple of fifties, I haven't managed any hundreds as yet.

"Hopefully, it will all click into place in the last few weeks of the season and I'm just telling myself that there are times as a player when you go through patches like these.

"I'd like to get another 300 or 400 runs before the end of the summer and, hopefully, get a three-figure score somewhere along the way.

"If I can contribute with bat and ball, then that can only help the team in our efforts to get up the Championship table."