Moeen Ali will decide over the next 48 hours whether he is ready to end his retirement from Test cricket and answer England’s spin-bowling distress flare in the Ashes.
Moeen, 35, called time on his 64-cap Test career in September 2021 and has enjoyed his time as a freewheeling white-ball specialist since, securing two Indian Premier League titles with Chennai Super Kings and helping England seal T20 World Cup glory in Australia last winter.
But now Ben Stokes, the England captain, and Brendon McCullum, the head coach, are understood to have contacted him regarding one last dance in Test cricket, having seen Jack Leach – a success story as their frontline spinner over the past 12 months – ruled out of the five-Test series against Australia with a lower-back stress fracture.
Despite there being just over a week to go before the first Test gets under way at Edgbaston on 16 June, England are said to have given Moeen some time to decide, with Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks viewed as alternative candidates. Following the largely one-sided 10-wicket victory against Ireland, the team are due to hold a bonding camp in Scotland this weekend, before training resumes in Birmingham next Tuesday.
Moeen’s record against Australia has been disappointing since contributing 12 wickets and two half-centuries to a 3-1 victory in 2015, with a struggle in the 2017-18 away series followed by just one Test in 2019 that led to him being dropped for two years. But, perhaps crucially, he is yet to play under Stokes and McCullum, a leadership pairing that has proved transformative for a good number of England players in the past year.
Speaking to Sky about the prospect of Moeen returning, the England seamer Stuart Broad said: “We know Mo is a phenomenal cricketer and someone who would fit into Stokes and Baz’s philosophy beautifully. I don’t know if he’s being considered by the selectors or if he would consider red-ball cricket again. But he’s a mighty fine cricketer.”
Moeen turned down a personal approach from McCullum to feature in the Test series in Pakistan last December, mindful of a packed winter white-ball schedule that included the T20 World Cup. But during that summer he did express an interest in playing under the captaincy of Stokes, having been impressed from the outside.
Along with England’s fresh approach, another temptation is a personal milestone: he is 86 runs and five wickets away from becoming the 15th Test cricketer to an all-rounder’s double of 3,000 runs and 200 wickets.
There may be concerns about an 18-month absence from red-ball cricket, with the fourth Test against India at the Oval in 2021 his last match. Upon retiring later that month, Moeen noted the physical and mental demands of Test cricket – albeit having signed off during the hugely draining pandemic period.
Having only just returned from two-months at the IPL and immediately resumed his career at Warwickshire following 16 years at Worcestershire, another consideration for Moeen will be yet more time away from his young family over the next two months.
The quickfire nature of Blast and Hundred matches will allow him to be at home for much of the English summer before a seven-week 50-over men’s World Cup takes place in India in October and November.
