ADIL Rashid says match practice in the United Arab Emirates and Barbados in the last two months has helped him prepare for today’s start of the County Championship season.

The leg-spinning starlet believes he is the type of player who benefits more from bowling in matches rather than in the nets, as has been the case when he’s been with the full England squad more often than not.

“The more overs I bowl in a game, the more confident I get,” said the 22 year-old. “In the past two or three winters, when I haven’t bowled too many overs, it’s taken me one or two games to get into our season. But, having been to Dubai and Barbados with the Lions and Yorkshire recently, hopefully I should be ready to start the season well.”

Rashid’s development seems to have been stunted by England’s decision to take him on full tours to the West Indies and South Africa and not play him in many, if any, matches.

But now, having left him out of the World Twenty20 squad, there seems to be a determination to let him play as much county cricket as possible with Yorkshire to help him to learn his own game.

Rashid, a certain starter against Warwickshire at Edgbaston today, continued: “I’ve just got to concentrate on my own game rather than concentrating on whatever else is going on around me. I want to be able to perform for Yorkshire day in, day out.”

But there is not just pressure from an England point of view because Rashid will be pushed hard for his place in the Yorkshire side by fellow spinners David Wainwright and Azeem Rafiq.

“There’s not just pressure on me,” he said. “There’s pressure on every player from one to eleven to perform.

Rashid believes Yorkshire are more than capable of “walking away with a win”

from Edgbaston, something which would be a major boost ahead of a hectic start to the campaign.

Yorkshire have eight LV division one fixtures scheduled before June 2 – half the campaign within the first two months of the summer.

Andrew Gale and Martyn Moxon have left wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy out of a 13- man squad, despite the South African declaring himself fit after ankle surgery. Jonathan Bairstow will undertake the wicketkeeping duties.

Yorkshire: Sayers, Lyth, Rudolph, Mc- Grath, Gale (c), Bairstow (wk), Rashid, Bresnan, Shahzad, Wainwright, Hannon- Dalby, Patterson, Pyrah.