Moeen Ali retires from Test cricket

Tuesday, 28 September 2021 02:39 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LONDON (AFP): England all-rounder Moeen Ali on Monday announced he was retiring from Test cricket to focus on his white-ball career, with captain Joe Root saying he would be a “huge loss” to the red-ball side.

The 34-year-old scored five centuries and took 195 wickets in 64 Tests, including a top score of 155 not out and five five-wicket hauls.

Moeen Ali

But Moeen felt he needed to abandon cricket’s longest format to prolong his career and rekindle his love for the game.

“I want to play for as long as I can and just want to enjoy my cricket,” he said. “Test cricket is amazing. When you’re having a good day it’s better than any other format by far. I’ve enjoyed Test cricket but that intensity can be too much sometimes. I feel like I’ve done enough of it and I’m happy with how I’ve done.”

Moeen began his Test career batting at number six and offering part-time off-spin, scoring a maiden Test century against Sri Lanka at Headingley in 2014.

But his role changed as his improved bowling led England’s management to prioritise his off-spin and move him around the batting line-up from opener to number nine.

Moeen finished with 2,914 Test runs at an average of 28.29 but regretted not being more productive with the bat. “I do feel like my batting was a little bit wasted,” he told ESPNcricinfo. He was named ‘Man of the Series’ in England’s 3-1 series win against South Africa in 2017, becoming the first cricketer to take 25 wickets and score more than 250 runs in a four-match series.

A key member of the England white ball team that won the 2019 ODI World Cup, Moeen played just one Test in the subsequent Ashes series and lost his central contract.

In February, Root admitted he had made a mistake in saying Moeen had “chosen” to go home from a tour of India when he decided to take a pre-agreed rest break after team management asked if he could stay on following eight wickets in his first Test in 18 months.

Root, however, praised Moeen on Monday by saying he had been “one of the great guys to play alongside” and would be a “huge loss”.

“At times he has been underappreciated, not within the dressing room but outside of that,” Root added, with Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255) the only spinners to have taken more Test wickets for England than Moeen.

Earlier this month, Moeen made 35 runs and took two wickets as vice-captain in his final Test against India at the Oval.

Moeen has been credited with inspiring Britain’s minority ethnic communities as a practising Muslim sporting a long, bushy beard.

He became the first British Asian since Nasser Hussain in 2003 to captain an England team when he skippered the Twenty20 side against Australia last year.