David Wainwright believes all three of Yorkshire’s spinners can play in the same side.

The left-armer played his first game of the pre-season tour of Barbados on Monday after recovering from a knee injury and claimed one wicket.

Wainwright was the sole recognised spinner in the side which played out a four-wicket defeat to Essex in a 40-over contest at the 3 Ws ground.

Off-spinner Azeem Rafiq has already impressed on tour but is nursing a niggle of his own, while Adil Rashid was due to feature in the play-off game against University of the West Indies at Foursquare yesterday.

Wainwright, who celebrated his 25th birthday over the weekend, said: “I think it’s all healthy competition but there are three different types of bowlers who all do different things.

“If there was a way that all three of us could get in the same side, then I think that could be a real positive. I don’t think we’ll quite have the pitches at the moment but I think that’s the way forward.”

It would seem a more likely prospect in the shorter format of the game rather than the County Championship, especially as spinners have been so successful in Twenty20 cricket in particular.

Wainwright had to watch from the sidelines as Yorkshire lost two successive Twenty20 matches at the weekend, before playing his part in the defeat against Essex.

He said: “I’ve been itching to get out there. The boys have been working hard, trying different things, but it’s not quite happened for us.

“It’s only a matter of time before it clicks on the field. There have been signs of improvement.

“People are looking around the teams in the top nine (of the Championship) and think ‘Yorkshire have got a young squad, they’re not going to challenge for much’. I think that could play in our favour and we could surprise a few.”

Wainwright has only played 24 first-class matches since his debut in 2004 but has still managed to impress the national selectors enough to force his way into England’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 to be played in the Caribbean in May.

Despite that, he said: “I am trying to kick on and do things but I’m also trying to get into this Yorkshire first team and cement my place in the four-day set-up.”