Moeen Ali has made a sensational u-turn on his Test retirement to play in the upcoming five-match Ashes series. The star allrounder decided to come out of retirement in the longest format of the game after England sent him an SOS following Jack Leach’s back injury.
And Moeen eventually obliged to the England Test team’s request as he opted to end his Test retirement. Speaking after being added to the Ashes squad, the Chennai Super Kings allrounder stated that Ben Stokes was the only England captain who could have persuaded him to come out of Test retirement. A one-word message from Stokes was more than enough to make Moeen come out of Test retirement.
“Stokesy messaged me with a question mark — ‘Ashes?’,” Moeen told reporters.
“Then the news came through and I had a chat with him,” he said. “That was it. It’s the Ashes. To be part of it would be amazing.”
When asked if there was any other captain who could have persuaded him to change his mind, Moeen replied: “Probably not, no.”
Mark Butcher on Moeen Ali’s return to Test team:
While England team-management are happy with Moeen Ali’s decision, former England player Mark Butcher is not too impressed with it. The England great did not mince his words as he savaged the decision with a brutal statement.
Butcher pointed out that Moeen Ali is not someone like basketball legend Michael Jordan or has done anything great in the past like the legendary Ian Botham did in the 1981 Ashes. He also pointed out that the allrounder has not played red-ball cricket in the last two years as he expressed his shock over the call.
“There’s a lot of hoping going on … Jack Leach, is a holding bowler for Ben Stokes right? Moeen Ali has never been a holding bowler in his entire career and has not played any red-ball cricket for two years,” Butcher said on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast.
“His Ashes record is pretty bad with bat and with the ball, and he has had no interest in playing long-form cricket ever since his retirement.
“It’s not like you’re bringing Michael Jordan out of retirement, is it? You’re not bringing somebody back who had a Botham’s Ashes in ’81, you’re bringing back someone who’s kind of done okay at times, and those times were a very long time ago,” he added.
Ashes 2023 schedule:
First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston
Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s
Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford
Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval
Also Read: New Zealand Suffer Another Huge Injury Blow As Star Allrounder Is Ruled Out Of ICC World Cup 2023