Exclusive: Moxon questions England as Rashid's inactivity gives Yorkshire cause for concern

Martyn Moxon, the county's director of professional cricket, has asked National Selector Geoff Miller to clarify how England intend to manage Rashid's development.

Moxon fears Rashid, 21, is at a crossroads in his career and needs to be bowling as many overs as possible to further his progress.

The player, who has spent much of his time with England as a glorified drinks waiter, bowled just 306.4 overs in first-class cricket during 2009, capturing 31 wickets at 36.06, whereas in 2008 he bowled 638.1 overs and claimed 65 wickets at 31.83.

"I'm a little bit concerned about what's happening at the moment because Adil is not really bowling the number of overs he needs to be bowling to develop," said Moxon.

"The number of overs he's bowled in competitive cricket since last winter is very few and I've asked Geoff Miller what plans England have for him and I'm waiting to hear back.

"Personally, I think if Adil's sat on his backside and bowling in the nets all winter that's not really the best thing for him, so it will be interesting to see what plans England do have.

"They could send him on the forthcoming Lions tour, which would be the likeliest option, or else he could go and play club cricket somewhere such as

Australia to make sure he gets some overs under his belt.

"Either way he needs to be playing as often as possible because there have been times when he's been picked in England squads and not played very much for Yorkshire, and then not really played very much for England either.

"If he doesn't play a great deal between now and April it could take us half a season to get him right, and we can ill-afford for that to happen."

Rashid played only seven of 16 County Championship games last summer, bowling a mere 242.2 overs in the competition. After starting the year bowling precious few overs on England's winter tour of the Caribbean, he missed the opportunity to get important first-class games under his belt when chosen for England's Twenty20 World Cup squad as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff.

Rashid was then selected for the NatWest Series against

Australia before being picked for this winter's Test and one-day series in South Africa.

But after conceding 25 runs from his solitary over during a Twenty20 international at Centurion Park in November, Rashid found himself surplus to requirements and was diverted to the England Performance Squad.

Moxon stressed he is not angry with England – just concerned Rashid is given the best opportunity to progress.

"I'm not unhappy with the way England have handled him and I'm certainly not going to criticise England," added Moxon.

"It's just I think this is a crucial phase of Adil's development and he's the type of bowler who needs regular cricket.

"Adil is a confidence bowler, the sort who gains confidence by bowling regular overs in the middle.

"Leg-spin is an extremely difficult art to master and his confidence is still fragile at such a young age."

England's first-choice spinner Graeme Swann shows how bowlers can grow in confidence through regular cricket.

After enduring a tough international baptism during the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa, Swann went back to county cricket and has since become a master of his craft.

"Swann has done really well lately and you could argue it's because he's played a lot of county cricket over the years," added Moxon.

"He's an experienced campaigner who knows his game inside out.

"In contrast, Adil is a young lad who's still very much learning his game.

"I just think young spinners need to be bowling as many overs as possible and that's especially true of young leg-spinners."

Moxon added it was a mistake to think of Rashid merely as a bowler.

The Bradford-born youngster has a first-class average of 36 with the bat as opposed to 33 with the ball and headed Yorkshire's Championship averages last summer with 387 runs at 77.40.

"Adil is an extremely capable all-rounder and one of our biggest challenges next summer will be to accommodate him batting-wise along with other all-rounders such as Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad," said Moxon.

"Adil is a flair player who's still learning the right balance between attack and defence and it's important we give him plenty of opportunities."

ADIL RASHID FACTFILE

Born: February 17, 1988.

Birthplace: Bradford.

Role: Right-hand batsman, leg-spin bowler.

First-class matches: 53.

Debut: 2006 v Warwickshire at Scarborough.

Total runs: 2,205 at 36.75.

Total wickets: 171 at 33.97.

Highest score: 157 not out v Lancashire at Headingley Carnegie, August 2009.

Best bowling: 7-107

v Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, August 2008.