Shane Warne has called on England to show patience with Adil Rashid after the two leg-spinners worked together before Sunday’s third Test against Pakistan in Sharjah.
The former Australia international, in the United Arab Emirates on a promotional visit and invited to training by England’s head coach, Trevor Bayliss, spent over an hour advising Rashid during Friday’s session before declaring the Yorkshireman a “wonderful bowler”.
Bayliss and the bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, were also in attendance, with the captain, Alastair Cook, joining them after nets for a further chat. Warne, who spent Thursday training alongside Pakistan’s Yasir Shah, is encouraged by Rashid’s leg-break.
Asked afterwards what he told the 27-year-old, who is two matches into his Test career and took five for 64 in the second innings of his debut in Abu Dhabi, Warne replied: “There were a few messages but the overriding thing is that he’s a wonderful bowler.
“When anyone first starts their Test career, it takes time to see the best of them. What we’ve seen already from Rashid are some glimpses of magic. All of us need to be a little bit patient with him and he needs to be patient, too.
“There were a few little technical things. I’m not big on technical stuff but there were a couple of things I knew he was happy with because he had a huge smile on his face. He was getting the ball to shape, spin and bounce and he was pretty happy with that.
“There’s not too many people going round with a better leg-break than Rashid’s. He’s as good as anyone I’ve seen, ever. So it just comes down now to having that confidence, backing yourself in the middle of a game.”
Warne, the tormentor of English batsmen during 14 years of Ashes cricket, bowled to the wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow late in the session prior to his return behind the stumps in place of the dropped Jos Buttler, before going on to discuss tactics for Rashid with Cook.
“England having a leg-spinner will help Alastair Cook’s captaincy have a bit more imagination,” Warne said. “It’s good fun to captain and gives him the flair to try different things. I think he’s really going to enjoy that as captain.
“When you have the opportunity to captain an attacking leg-spinner – not a defensive one – it’s really important the captain and the spinner are on the same page. The spinner must have the field he wants and a plan of how to get the batsman out.
“Cooky had it exactly right – give him protection at the start, attack as you get into it. And then work together as you go along. But really it’s up to Rashid to come up with those plans and for Cooky to back them.”
The pair have crossed swords in the past over Warne’s relentless criticism of Cook’s captaincy on commentary but the 46-year-old insists their issues were put to bed 18 months ago in a telephone call, before going on to talk up his improvement since. “We [buried the hatchet] a while ago – it’s my job as a commentator to say what I see – it doesn’t mean I’m right but it’s my job to do that,” Warne said.
“I don’t think anyone is the best captain when they start but I think we’ve seen him go on and grow, bat well and captain well.”
Meanwhile off-spinner Bilal Asif will be free to make his Test debut for Pakistan on Sunday, if selected, after his action was cleared in International Cricket Council testing.
Bilal was tested in Chennai, after his action was reported in the third one-day international during Pakistan’s short tour of Zimbabwe at the start of this month. He would have been free to play against England last week too, while the results of the tests were awaited, but he was not required.
