BIRMINGHAM: The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that off-spinner Moeen Ali had been left out from a 13-man squad.
That leaves Yorkshire leg-spinner Rashid as England’s sole designated slow bowler, although his county colleague Joe Root, the England captain, can supplement his top-order batting with occasional off-spin.
England have also omitted uncapped Essex seamer Jamie Porter.
Top-order batsman Dawid Malan remains in the XI, with all-rounder Ben Stokes and Surrey left-arm quick Sam Curran providing seam bowling support to the veteran new-ball pairing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the first of a five-Test series starting Wednesday.
Rashid’s recall for his 11th Test but first in England provoked a furious response given he signed a limited-overs only contract with Yorkshire for this season.
Yorkshire and England greats Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan are among those who’ve slammed the decision to call-up Rashid without him having first played any red-ball County Championship cricket this term.
Former opening batsman Boycott was scathing in his column for Britain’s Daily Telegraph published Tuesday, accusing Rashid of being a “spoilt brat.”
“He should never have been handed a Test recall,” insisted Boycott.
“In two years England have gone around in a circle. By picking Rashid, they are selecting the unselectable: a player who will not play four-day Championship cricket for Yorkshire because his heart is not in it, but he will play for England in Test matches. Absurd? Yes.”
Vaughan had previously labelled Rashid’s selection “ridiculous,” with Rashid responding angrily by saying his former team-mate’s remarks were “stupid,” while suggesting Yorkshire’s less than enthusiastic reaction had been “disrespectful.”
Boycott said Rashid had responded to Vaughan’s comments like a “spoilt brat.”
“Trashing a great England captain and superb batsman does not go down well with the cricketing public,” insisted Boycott, who went into a self-imposed exile from international cricket for three years at the height of his career in the mid 1970s.
“Let me tell Adil that Vaughan will be remembered as one of the greatest England captains and an elegant, superb batsman. In 10 years nobody will remember Adil’s Test match performances.”
Meanwhile England confirmed Jos Buttler as Root’s vice-captain for the Test series.
Buttler was only recalled to the Test set-up by new national selector Ed Smith for the two-match series against Pakistan earlier this season.
But having deputised for England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan in limited-overs internationals, he has now been given a formal leadership position in the Test set-up as well.
Anderson, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, had been assisting Root since the start of the last Ashes after Stokes was stood down from the vice-captaincy position following an alleged late-night incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September.
More pressure on lone spinner Rashid after Boycott blast
More pressure on lone spinner Rashid after Boycott blast
Young future stars of Saudi golf enjoy a moment alongside the big names at LIV Golf Riyadh
- Participants in ROSHN Rising Stars program to develop golfing talent in the Kingdom play friendly competition at Riyadh Golf Club before round 3 of the season opener tees off
- ‘Golf is such a fundamental sport for development … The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity,’ says LIV Golf’s Jake Jones
RIYADH: While much of the spotlight during LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh this week has of course been on the return of some of the sport’s biggest names for the new campaign, a new generation of Saudi golfers is also quietly taking its own first steps into the game.
Participants in the ROSHN Rising Stars program, an initiative designed to introduce and develop young golfing talent across the Kingdom, gathered at Riyadh Golf Club on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition a few hours before the third round of the main event teed off under the lights.
“The real focus is getting golf into the lives of young people in the Kingdom,” Jake Jones, LIV Golf’s senior vice president of impact and sustainability told Arab News as the young golfers took to the course under cloudy skies.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different, something sustained, with a long-term outcome, and that’s how this program was created.”
The program runs for 20 weeks, during which the participants receive weekly coaching and instruction sessions at Riyadh Golf Club from Golf Saudi professionals.
“This takes them from never having held a golf club before to reaching a point where they’ve now played in a competition,” Jones said.
The fact that the LIV Golf season opens in Riyadh provides another key benefit for the participants, as they get to experience the professional game up close, and this access to world-class players and events forms a key part of their journey.
“We give them exposure to our LIV Golf events, here and internationally,” Jones added.
Beyond this, and teaching people how to play the game, the program offers participants insights into the wider aspects of the world of golf, including career opportunities.
“They’ve had behind-the-scenes tours, pitch-and-putt sessions, long-drive competitions and visits to places like the media center,” Jones said. “It’s about showing them what it’s like not just to play golf, but work in the sport as well.”
Friday’s event in Riyadh marked the conclusion of the 20-week program for its participants.
“Today is really the celebration point,” Jones said. “We’re at the graduation phase of this journey, where they’ll compete in a three-hole challenge. We then crown a winner and celebrate with them back at the ROSHN Fan Village.”
As golf continues to grow in popularity in the region, Jones believes initiatives such as Rising Stars will have a lasting effect on the development of next generation of players.
“Golf is such a fundamental sport for development; it’s not just about physical activity and having fun,” he said. “The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity.
“Imagine playing golf and you miss the ball or you end up in the sand; you have to get back up and try again. You block the noise around you and focus on the ball to make the right shot.”
Jones highlighted in particular the importance of integrity as one of golf’s defining characteristics, and how that can help shape personal development.
“The rules of golf are reliant on you following them,” he said. “That sense of honesty and self-discipline is something young players can carry beyond the course” into the roles they play in their communities, societies and countries.
“The role that golf can have with young people in Saudi Arabia is actually another layer of baking in those core societal skills, to ensure that they are fit and robust for the future,” Jones added.
This is particularly important given the youthful nature of the Saudi population, more than half of which is under the age of 30, he said, and they now have the chance to benefit from golf in one way or another.
“Golf is now another avenue that they can explore. Whether it’s playing, working in the sport or simply finding a community, we want to give them another reason to get excited.
“We believe that golf can do all of that and, hopefully, it can spark a lasting passion among the Saudi youth.”
