Rashid escapes action after his attack on Gale

Rashid accused Yorkshire of treating him badly and blamed Gale and the coaching staff for failing to back him as his form has declined.

The 25-year-old – once touted as English cricket’s next big thing but now struggling to gain a county place – also threatened to leave if matters do not improve.

But Yorkshire last night stressed that the interview – published yesterday in a national newspaper under the headline “Yorkshire are ruining me” – was actually conducted on January 24 and that Rashid’s frustrations have long been resolved.

The club are disappointed that the comments have only surfaced on the eve of the County Championship season, which starts today when they take on Sussex at Headingley, and stressed both parties have drawn a line under the affair.

Rashid, who described his actions as “an error of judgement”, has apologised to Gale and director of cricket Martyn Moxon and reaffirmed his commitment to the club.

Yorkshire, who have named Rashid in a 13-man squad for today’s match, insist they have not given up on a bowler they still believe could play again for England.

However, the episode is deeply embarrassing, has cast doubt on Rashid’s long-term future and is an unwanted distraction as Yorkshire seek to mark their 150th anniversary by winning the title.

Rashid’s discontent emanated from being left out of the side last summer and his belief that he did not bowl for long enough when he was selected.

“It’s hard to come straight on and hit your length and line with every delivery if you’re hardly bowling and the coaches and people around you don’t give you the backing,” said Rashid, who took 16 wickets in 10 Championship games at an average of 41 and lost his place to off-spinner Azeem Rafiq.

“Obviously, there’s some blame on me but there’s some on the people around me, on the captain and the coaches.”

Rashid claimed Gale handled him poorly and did not communicate with him properly.

“I didn’t get answers as to why I wasn’t playing,” he added.

“It was, ‘You’re not playing today. We don’t feel you’re bowling well enough.’ But how can I not be bowling well enough when I’m hardly bowling at all? Or just in one or two-over spells? As a leg-spinner, it takes three or four overs to get into your rhythm.”

Rashid, who has played five one-day internationals and five Twenty20 internationals, the last of them in 2009, went on: “The captain knows what I can do because I’ve got 200-plus first-class wickets.

“He should have thought, ‘Okay, he’s done this in the past, I need to back him.’ If I don’t get that from the captain obviously my confidence is going to go down.

“Doubts start creeping in. I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got to take a wicket in this over or that’s it, I don’t bowl again’. No captain in the past did that to me. (Anthony) McGrath, Vaughany (Michael Vaughan), Craig White, Jacques Rudolph – they backed me. Vaughany used to set defensive fields and just bowl me. He never doubted me and it would just build my confidence, I’d get a wicket, get another, get four, get five.

“With Galey, it’s changed. A couple of overs and that’s it, you’re not bowling again for a long time, and when you do come on to bowl again, it’s for an over. I don’t think it’s fair.”

Rashid said he could not afford to “waste another year” at Yorkshire if not in the starting XI.

“At the moment, I’m hopefully still there or thereabouts, but another year like 2012 and I won’t be, I’ll be dropping down, down, down and gone,” he added.

“If I don’t feel as though I’ve been treated well, I’ll go. I need to be playing first-team cricket, and I know if I’m not playing for Yorkshire there are going to be teams out there willing to take me.”

Moxon said he did not think there was still a problem and confirmed the player would not be punished.

“We aren’t disciplining him,” said Moxon.

“We’ve had a chat to Rash and he feels it’s all come out not as he wanted it to, and the disappointing thing from the club’s point of view is that this interview was done back in January.

“There was a little bit of frustration in January about his position in the side, and so on, but that’s history now. We’re three months on from January and he just wants to get on with the season.

“Rash has apologised to Galey and, as far as Rash is concerned, he doesn’t feel aggrieved any more. He thinks he’s being treated well and, as far as we’re concerned, his work ethic and the way he has gone about his business has been excellent.

“When Rash saw the article he was mortified and straight away went to Galey and apologised.”

Moxon said Yorkshire will not let the matter distract them and insisted Rashid can prosper once more.

“We certainly haven’t given up on him,” he added.

“As a coaching group, we still believe Adil’s got it in him to play international cricket again.”

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