“I'm not thinking about retirement”: Adil Rashid is ready to keep fighting with England | English cricket team

The last time England's men played a One-Day International at Chester-le-Street was during the crazy heatwave two summers ago, when the thermometer rose above 40 degrees and players saw pink elephants. Similar conditions seem unlikely on Tuesday, although the hosts are feeling the heat a little.

With three matches to go, Harry Brooks's side are 2-0 down against Australia and have no room to maneuver in this five-match autumn series. It has been a fairly uneven game so far, although that was probably to be expected given some of the statistics. In Saturday's 68-run defeat at Headingley, for example, the tourists fielded nine players with more than 100 caps each, while England fielded just one, Adil Rashid.

Rashid is a superb leg-spinner but a tailender with the bat. He is also the England team's highest scorer in the ODI format with 853 runs, 205 more than the next best, Phil Salt. Jos Buttler may be injured and Joe Root appears to have been rested before potentially returning to bowl 50 overs in the Champions Trophy early next year, but it still shows how much Rob Key's selection panel has hit the reset button.

“We know we are facing a very strong Australian team who are in top form and we know we have to win,” Rashid said after England had to train indoors at the Riverside Ground in Durham on Monday because of rain. “We have to do our best in all areas. If we can do that, hopefully we can win.”

That Rashid survived the defeat that resulted from two failed title defences last year says a lot about his continued class. The 36-year-old took his 200th ODI wicket at the weekend when Glenn Maxwell failed to pick up a slider and holed out in the deep innings. Among spinners, only Saqlain Mushtaq (101 innings) and Shane Warne (124) reached the milestone quicker than Rashid (131).

As well as the lack of an immediate replacement – ​​20-year-old Rehan Ahmed has been backed by England in recent times but is still in development – ​​Rashid's continued existence also says something about his desire to move on, not least after his quasi-elder brother Moeen Ali was among those moving on over the past decade.

“[Two hundred ODI wickets] is a nice achievement but I don't look at it too much,” Rashid said. “I still believe that I have a long way to go hopefully rather than just being happy with what I have. I feel good. I'm not thinking about retirement. I'm playing each game and each series as it comes and if I'm still enjoying it and performing, I'll carry on.

“I'm not thinking about quitting or anything like that – it hasn't even crossed my mind. It's about enjoying the game and continuing to give it everything I've got.”

Speaking about Moeen, Rashid said: “He will be missed a lot by the team and I will miss him a lot too as we are really good friends on and off the pitch. He has made this decision and started a new chapter in his life with the rest of his career and I am sure he will do wonders.”

“Sometimes it can be a little bit… not lonely, but he and I are very close, very close. I still speak to him regularly, but it's different. That's life, people move on and come and go. It's something that each individual has to get used to and the team as well.”

More pressingly, England need to rediscover their 50-over pace with the bat, lost after winning the 2019 World Cup and not helped by the format's second-tier status domestically. Buttler was back in goal on Monday and was due to return from injury in the Caribbean in November.

In the meantime, some players could catch up to Rashid's more unlikely records.