Adil Rashid on Chris Silverwood's radar for England's Test side

The circus heads north for the final three shows of the international summer and Chris Silverwood probably has fewer worries than his footballing counterpart. Some of his players have been in a bubble for about 10 weeks with barely a mishap.

“It has been a phenomenal effort from everyone, the ECB, the hotel staff, the groundstaff … and the players.” He chuckles when it is suggested the squad may be a bit jaded for the final fling. “It’s Australia,” he says and does not feel the need to elaborate further.

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The cricket this summer has been so rarefied that there is a danger of leaping to all sorts of conclusions on the evidence of three Twenty20 matches against Australia. At the end of them Dawid Malan has ended up as the world’s top T20 batsman in the International Cricket Council rankings, overtaking Babar Azam.

Perhaps he should now be elevated to the one-day international side and maybe the Test team. He has been added to the ODI party as one of the reserves, which implies there would need to be a mishap or two for him to get a game. The expectation is that Jos Buttler will return to the side and Eoin Morgan – “touch wood” – will be fit to play. Jason Roy also returns to the squad, while Joe Denly returns to Kent.

Silverwood chose his words carefully – as he usually does – when talking about Malan. “His form has been phenomenal,” he said. “He gets better the more he bats. Good on him. But the 50-over side is a tough one to get into at the moment.”

A similar debate arises with Adil Rashid, who has bowled so well in white-ball cricket this summer; the crowning glory was that perfect googly that befuddled Aaron Finch, a fine player of spin, on Tuesday night. It may be that his googly is the hardest to pick in world cricket; his friend and recent captain, Moeen Ali, regards him as “the best in the world”. Rashid is now a key player in the 50- and 20-over side but what about Test cricket?

Again Silverwood was cagey. “I would like to see him with a red ball in his hand and this is a conversation that is ongoing. But I don’t want to cloud things at the moment; it is another chat to have. There is the possibility of a red-ball camp and some competitive games later in the year.”

There are several issues here; Rashid has long been hampered by shoulder injuries, which means the prospect of bowling 20 overs a day as opposed to 10 or four can be tricky. It is not clear-cut that Rashid himself is as committed to the Test format, which, in many ways, is a more demanding challenge.

Certainly his record is less impressive and he is less confident in this form of the game. He knows he can excel in ODI and T20 cricket. And would a return to Test cricket diminish his potency as a one-day cricketer? But then we witness that googly and wonder what might still be possible for Rashid and a red ball.