England got a taste of life after Adil Rashid during their late-summer series against Sri Lanka, and they won the series anyway. Given how long people have treated Rashid’s retirement as a looming disaster, that result was a surprise.
That does not diminish the vital role Rashid has played for England over the last decade, or the problems his eventual retirement will create. No player has taken more wickets for England in T20Is than Rashid, and he is fast closing in on Jimmy Anderson’s record in 50-over cricket. Having played 153 T20Is, he has far more experience than anyone else in England’s attack, with Liam Dawson next at 39 T20Is.
England relied heavily on their pace bowlers during the ODI series that Rashid missed, and he bowled just seven overs across the three-match T20I series. The bright spot came when Will Jacks became the seventh English spinner to take a five-wicket haul in ODIs, an achievement Rashid has managed twice.
Searching for a successor
The broader anxiety about life without Rashid stems from the shortage of specialist leg-spinners coming through. That concern explains why so much faith has been placed in Rehan Ahmed since he was a teenager, even though his record has not yet justified that belief. Against Sri Lanka, Rehan had his first real opportunity to prove he was a worthy heir to Rashid. Instead, he showed how different England’s white-ball sides will look once Rashid is gone, without his reliable and constant supply of overs and wickets.
Difference is the key point. Rashid’s style sets him apart from most leg-spinners playing international cricket today. At the T20 World Cup earlier this year, he bowled more deliveries under 80kph than any other spinner. He also bowled fuller than his peers, which allowed him to produce his trademark late dip after tempting the batter forward. When the late dip failed to deceive, his quicker variation did the job. Most importantly, no spinner at the tournament took more wickets at a lower economy rate.
None of England’s other spinners match Rashid’s quality, and none bowl in a similar way. Rehan bowls considerably quicker than Rashid and does not generate the same dip. “Most leg-spinners around the world in the last six or seven years have had success doing the opposite thing to Rashid, bowling quicker stump-to-stump,” Rehan said earlier this year. “But for him to do that and be so brave and get it right most of the time, it’s incredible.”
Longevity and experience
Rashid’s distinctiveness has been protected by the path he has taken. Unlike many leg-spinners who have built their reputations on mystery spin in franchise leagues worldwide, he has played relatively little T20 franchise cricket. In the last year, his appearances outside England were limited to The Hundred and a three-week stint in the ILT20 during a gap in England’s white-ball schedule during The Ashes. At 38, the limited cricket he plays beyond his international commitments may be helping him keep going as he approaches his 40th birthday.
Age milestones also rarely end a spinner’s career as abruptly as they do in other specialisms. At 47, Imran Tahir remains a regular pick at franchise auctions. Mohammad Nabi continues to play for Afghanistan at 41, and Sikandar Raza spent his 40th birthday at the top of the ICC T20I all-rounder rankings last April. Although the end of the 2023-27 World Cup cycle has added urgency to planning for Rashid’s succession, it is not out of the question that he could still be taking wickets for England at the 2031 World Cup.
Maturity brings advantages that England’s younger spinners often lack, and they are too frequently discarded while still in their early to mid-20s. In an interview earlier this year, Rashid said: “You know at this age that sometimes things go your way, and sometimes they don’t. I think you also think more clearly about how to adapt to a situation and what’s required in this moment, on this pitch. All these things come in which you may not know when you’re younger.”
England’s answer already exists
In a sense, England have already found their answer to what comes next. With spinners in short supply across formats, spin-bowling all-rounders have filled the gaps and taken on a bigger role with the ball. Will Jacks has bowled more overs for England in ODIs this year than any other bowler. James Coles, a batting all-rounder, was named in England’s ODI squad for their upcoming tri-series in Pakistan, while Mason Crane returned to the side after a nine-year wait, a recall that followed a strong domestic season with the bat. Rehan’s appeal has centred on his supposed versatility, and he has opened the batting twice for England in ODIs.
Nothing shows how exceptional Rashid’s quality and longevity are quite like England’s search for his replacement, or how far in advance they began it. Yet the greatest tribute to him may be this: when he eventually steps away, England will have to completely remodel how they play white-ball cricket.
