Adil Rashid has no intention of following pal Moeen Ali into retirement

Adil Rashid is in no rush to follow kindred spirit Moeen Ali into retirement - and he’s relishing his role as elder statesman in England’s white-ball rebuild.

At 36, Rashid became the first English spinner to reach 200 one-day international wickets on Saturday, another laurel to add to his current status as the world’s No.1-ranked Twenty20 bowler.

Trailing Australia 2-0 with three games left in the Metro Bank ODI series, it’s win or bust for England if they can dodge the rain at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street today.

With limited-overs skipper Jos Buttler missing because of a calf injury, Rashid is the oldest player in a youthful squad by five years.

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And he was astonished to discover, after his tail-end cameo in Saturday’s 68-run defeat at Headingley, that his longevity makes him the current side’s leading run-scorer - despite batting at No.11 in three of his last four appearances.

Today he will win his 138th one-day cap - exactly the same number as his superannuated pal Moeen, whose retirement he guarded as a state secret despite knowing about it in advance.

But he has no intention of following his spin twin into the sunset, saying: "I feel good. I'm not looking at retirement yet. If I'm still enjoying it and performing well, I'll keep carrying on.

“I've got no eye yet on retiring or anything like that - that's not even crossed my mind. It's about enjoying the game and still giving it everything I've got.

”I knew about Mo’s decision but I had to keep it to myself. He's a big miss for the team and a big miss for me personally because we're really good friends on and off the pitch.

“Sometimes it can be a bit...not lonely, but me and him are very tight, very close. But that's life, people move on and come in and out and it's something each individual has to get used to as well as the team.

"To play for this long and take the wickets I have, I'd never, ever dreamt of that, so hopefully I can carry it on. It's been an enjoyable ride with ups and down and hopefully I can stay on the up for the remainder of my career.”

Of the current squad, Yorkshire leg-spinner Rashid is the only other survivor - Jofra Archer is the other - from England’s 2019 World Cup-winning squad, although Buttler and Ben Stokes are likely to be involved in next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

He has enjoyed being a sounding board for Buttler and his predecessor Eoin Morgan, and now he is a valued mentor for the next generation of twirlers.

"With Mo not being there my input will obviously be a little bit more, speaking to the youngsters and them coming to me," he said.

"That's the ultimate aim - whatever I've got in terms of experience, form, ups and downs, the knowledge I have, I can pass that on. It could be in terms of mindset or technical things. I'm trying to do now as well, with the youngsters I'm working with.

"I've worked with Rehan Ahmed, I've worked with Jafer (Chohan) at Yorkshire. There's a few around the circuit, they're in competition, which is healthy, and they can compete to become that No.1 spinner.”

Rain at the Riverside prevented any outdoor practice yesterday, but England were joined in the indoor school by convalescing captains Buttler and Ben Stokes. Both batted in the nets, with Stokes continuing his recovery from a torn hamstring ahead of next month's Test tour of Pakistan.