Plunkett resists temptation to become white-ball specialist

Liam Plunkett is coming up 33 and he has ambitions to be a cornerstone of England's World Cup side on home soil next summer. Just the reason, one might suppose, for him to join the likes of Adil Rashid and Alex Hales in opting for a white-ball future.

Not a bit of it. Plunkett insists he remains as committed as ever to playing all forms of the game, while defending the decision of those, like his Yorkshire team-mate Rashid, to jettison the longer form of the game "if their heart is not in it".

That red-ball commitment has been somewhat theoretical of late. Plunkett managed only two Championship matches for Yorkshire last season, largely because of injury issues, and he will miss the opening four-day match of the season as he recovers from hamstring trouble.

Yet he remains wedded to all forms, even though the last of his 13 Tests, against India at Lord's, was nearly three years ago and he is now persistently overlooked by England in the belief that his "enforcer" role is too one-dimensional for Test cricket.

"I think I am available for 12 Championship games for Yorkshire and I want to play in as many as I can," Plunkett said. "I still want to play red-ball cricket, I still want to perform for Yorkshire and if something comes from that, you never know.

"I didn't play too many Championship games last year, or the year before, but I still enjoy the red-ball cricket. For me, playing a four-day game is more like a Test match. To get a victory after battling for four days, and three sessions a day, is more satisfying for me.

"I will try to keep myself as fit as I can. I want to keep playing cricket until the wheels fall off."

Plunkett's rehab, on this occasion, was not coming with another gym session - he needs little encouragement to do that - but by a stint at Appleby CC in Cheshire in support of NatWest CricketForce - the official awakener to cricket clubs up and down the country to spruce up their clubs in time for the season.

He did not mention Rashid by name when considering the creeping growth of white-ball specialists - a growth that, like Japanese Knotweed, will be impossible to eradicate once established. But then he did not need to. As a Yorkshire cricketer, he is aware that Rashid's choice has been fervently discussed within the county.

"I can tell the youngsters growing up that there is nothing more rewarding than playing a Test match for England after that hard battle for five days," he said.

"But people do go that way, people are going down that route, and that's good for them. If they want to do it, and they can't fully commit to red-ball cricket, and their heart is not in it, then it's probably best for the team and for the county and for themselves."