England cricket has had a tremendous summer, beginning from the two-match ODI series against Ireland following to the Champions Trophy where they reached the semi-final stage of the eight-team tournament. They then defeated South Africa and West Indies in all the three formats. One of England’s greatest captains Nasser Hussain has credited Moeen Ali for this success.
According to Hussain, Moeen is a tremendous role model as an English player and a player England as a whole can be proud. Hussain also said that it is not only about how he conducts himself on the field, but also how he conducts himself off it. Ali scored over 600 runs and picked up 35 wickets in both the formats and Nasser Hussain picked him as the man of the summer for this performance.
Hussain said:
“You look at Moeen Ali now, I think he’s a massive role model for what we should try and achieve in the future, Moeen Ali becomes one of the most important and influential people for English cricket in the years ahead because of everything he encompasses. The way he encompasses his faith, where he’s from – he knows exactly where he’s from – and what he wants to do and achieve.”
He added:
“I think as a society in England we should be very proud of what Moeen Ali’s doing as an England cricketer. A role model is not just a goody two-shoes, not just someone who does everything in the right way. A role model is someone who shows you that what they are doing for their country is seriously important.”
After England’s win against South Africa in the Test series, the England team celebrated with Champagnes and Moeen Ali being a devout Muslim wandered out of the celebration. However, he was recalled by the players for the team photo. Hussain said that he was happy to see the player’s gestures and felt that the team understands the value of Moeen Ali’s contribution to the team’s success. He said:
“I thought there was a really key moment this summer when England beat South Africa and the champagne was being sprayed around in the celebrations, “Alastair Cook brought Moeen Ali in for the photos and because of his faith he didn’t want to be anywhere near alcohol. Then Mo himself just wandered off and I thought that was a great moment for English cricket and English society and what we are trying to talk about. “You had a group of individuals in that team that realised how important Moeen Ali was in that success and wanted him to be part of that success. But they also realised that because of his faith and what he firmly believes in, he didn’t want to be anywhere near the champagne. They were sensible enough and deep thinking enough to say to him that it was his moment. More teams that understand that diversity, the more moments like that we can have, the better as a society and a sport we’ll be.”
Hussain who is an excellent observer of the game believes that not the players but the crowd too know the value of Moeen’s contribution to the team. According to him, Ali gets the loudest cheer from the crowd whenever he goes out to bat. He said:
“I always look to see who gets the biggest cheer and when Mo goes out to bat at Warwickshire or Headingly, he got the biggest cheer. The British public love him and the spectators are no fools, it’s not just about the cricket. It’s also about how he plays the game and how he goes about his game.”