Moeen Ali ends Test career on a high note

August 6, 2023

The English all-rounder scored runs and took wickets at crucial junctures to make his last red-ball series memorable

Moeen Ali ends Test career on a high note

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has confirmed his re-retirement after helping England earn a 2-2 draw in the recently concluded Ashes series.

ngland all-rounder Moeen Ali has confirmed his re-retirement after helping England earn a 2-2 draw in the recently concluded Ashes series.

The all-rounder took three crucial wickets on the final day at The Oval as England beat Australia by 49 runs in the final Test.

Moeen scored 181 runs in four Ashes Tests with a half-century and also took nine wickets in the series.

He ended the Ashes having become just the 16th Test player to complete 3,000 runs and 200 wickets. Moeen, a double World Cup and Ashes winner, will continue to play a part for England in white-ball cricket and is hopeful to play a big role in the 50-over World Cup in India this year where his side will defend the title they won on home soil in 2019.

He had retired from Test cricket at the end of the 2021 and had not played a red-ball game in almost two years. But the 36-year-old allrounder was lured out of his retirement by captain Ben Stokes following the back injury suffered by fellow spinner Jack Leach. He went on to play a huge role as Brendon McCullum's only spin bowl specialist. But now he is not interested in reverting his decision.

In his Test career, he played 68 matches, scored 3094 runs at an average of 28.12 with five centuries and 15 fifties. His highest Test score was 155 not out against Sri Lanka in 2016.

Moeen took 204 wickets at an average of 36.66 with the best bowling figures of 6-53 and a match haul of 10-112.

Moeen Munir Ali was born on June 18, 1987, in Birmingham. He is of Pakistani descent and belongs to the Mirpuri community. His grandfather migrated to England.

Moeen made his ODI debut against West Indies in February 2014, and scored his first fifty in the third ODI. He got selected for the Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's in June 2014. After the retirement of off-spinner Graeme Swann, Moeen was selected.

He made an impressive start with the bat by scoring 48 runs in his first Test innings and took the important wicket of Kumar Sangakkara.

During the second Test, Moeen's patient 108 not out almost saved England.

Moeen hit eight sixes in a Test match against India in 2014, setting a new record for the most sixes by an England player in a Test match.

In 2016, Moeen became only the third English player to score four centuries in a calendar year.

In 2017, Moeen became the fifth-fastest player in terms of matches played to reach 2,000 runs and 100 wickets.

He took a hat-trick against South Africa at The Oval in 2017 which sealed the series victory.

His best in Tests came against South Africa at home when he took 25 wickets and scored 261 runs in four Tests. He received the Player-of-the-Series award.

Only two spinners - Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255) - have more Test wickets for England than Moeen.

In the white ball game, he has scored 1877 runs in 112 ODIs at an average of 25.02. In T20Is, he has scored 437 runs in 38 games with a strike rate of 136.13.

In ODIs, he has taken 87 wickets averaging 50.85. In the shortest format, he has taken 21 wickets in 38 matches at an average of 32.57. He also led England's Under-19 team to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup.

In December 2019, he was drafted by Multan Sultans for Pakistan Super League (PSL) as their Platinum Category pick at the 2020 PSL.

Moeen played county cricket for Warwickshire before moving to Worcestershire after the 2006 season. He enjoyed a successful stint at Warwickshire and won the NBC Dennis Compton Award in 2004 and 2005.

He had the most fantastic championship season in 2013, in which he scored 1,375 runs in 17 first-class games including four hundred and eight half-centuries. He also showed his bowling skills with 31 wickets. With the all-round performance, he received the Professional Cricketers Association's player of the year award.

During the home series against India, Moeen demolished the Indian batting with 19 wickets. In the series, Moeen remained the second-highest wicket-taker for England.

Moeen led England in a T20I match against Australia in Southampton on September 8, 2020, becoming the first Asian-origin cricketer to captain England in any format since Nasser Hussain in 2003.

After the Twenty20 World Cup in Oman and the United Arab Emirates in October and November this year, England are set to face Australia in the five-Test Ashes series starting. Without Moeen, England will face a selection problem.

Moeen was influential with both bat and ball throughout his career for the English team. He was always willing to take on responsibility as a senior player within the team by pushing himself up to number three in the batting order.

Moeen Ali was also named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2015, a prestigious annual award given by the cricketing almanack, Wisden.


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Moeen Ali ends Test career on a high note