Leeds:  Teenage leg-spinner Adil Rashid, the first Yorkshire-born Asian to play for the English county, is ready to start bowling again after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back.

The 18-year-old, who made a sensational Championship debut last season by bagging six wickets for 67 runs in an innings victory over Warwickshire, will turn his arm over for the first time since the injury in the nets in January.

"I'm really looking forward to getting in some practice," Rashid told the Yorkshire official website.
"I can't wait for the new season to get underway. I thought I was suffering from only bruising when my back began to hurt, but then I had a scan, which revealed I was suffering from a stress fracture.

"I had to take a complete rest. I was absolutely gutted, because I had to turn down the invitation to go on the trip to India with England's emerging players in the autumn, and then I couldn't be selected for the England Under-19s tour of Malaysia, which begins in late January.

"It has been very disappointing and frustrating, but I'm over it now, and am eager to get started. There is no question of me not being fully fit by the start of the new season, and one of my aims is to play in every Championship match for Yorkshire in 2007," he said.

"I could, of course, even get picked to play for England, and although I am not expecting that to happen quite so soon I will certainly do everything to grasp the opportunity should it arise," he said.