Moeen Ali recalled for Ashes after agreeing Test comeback
Moeen Ali has reversed his retirement from Test cricket and been added to England’s Ashes squad after answering an SOS name from the group’s administration.
Moeen confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Monday night time that he had been requested to contemplate a possible call-up following an injury to Jack Leach, who went for scans after England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s which revealed a lower-back stress fracture.
He held discussions with Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key – England’s captain, coach and managing director respectively – and the ECB introduced on Wednesday morning that Moeen has agreed to return to Test cricket. He has been added to England’s squad for the primary two Ashes Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
“We reached out to Mo early this week about returning to Test cricket,” Key mentioned. “Having had a couple of days to reflect, Mo is excited to join the squad and play Test cricket again.
“His huge expertise, alongside together with his all-round skill, will profit our Ashes marketing campaign. We want Mo and the remainder of the squad effectively for the Ashes marketing campaign.”
The other main contenders to fill the vacancy created by Leach’s injury were Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks – who both took Test five-wicket hauls in Pakistan in December – and Liam Dawson, who represented a like-for-like replacement as a left-arm spinner.
Moeen has not played a first-class match since his retirement from Test cricket, which he announced in September 2021 after England’s series against India. He advised ESPNcricinfo on the time that he had struggled to “get within the zone” during that series, saying: “I simply felt like I wasn’t in it.”
He has won the T20 World Cup with England and two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings since his retirement, and has represented various franchises around the world in between his international commitments. He has also returned to Warwickshire, his home county, and spent the last week captaining their Vitality Blast side.
But since McCullum and Stokes took over a year ago, Moeen has become increasingly open to the idea of returning to Test cricket. He said last summer that he would “love” to play under the new regime: “They are each very aggressive and I feel I might swimsuit their cricket a bit extra.”
He gave serious consideration to a return for England’s December tour to Pakistan after discussions with McCullum, but eventually opted against due to the prospect of spending more time away from his family during a busy winter of white-ball cricket.
England’s squad will report to Birmingham on Tuesday and have three training days before the start of the series at Edgbaston on June 16. The venue is Moeen’s home ground, but he has not played a red-ball game there since the first Test of the 2019 Ashes, when he took 3 for 172 in the match and was then dropped.
Moeen will likely bat at No. 8 if selected but is not a certain starter at this stage. Spinners often play a peripheral role at Edgbaston – only three wickets have fallen to spin in three County Championship games at the venue this season – and with Stokes’ fitness to bowl still unclear, England may be tempted to field an all-seam attack supplemented by Joe Root’s offbreaks.
He has struggled towards Australia previously, with 20 wickets at a median of 64.65, although these figures embody a gruelling 2017-18 tour by which England’s dearth of spin assets noticed him play all 5 Tests regardless of ripping his spinning finger open on the seam of the ball early within the tour.