Moeen Ali has agreed to return to the cauldron of the Ashes this summer after answering England’s call to face Australia in the five-Test men’s series that gets under way in his home city of Birmingham next Friday.
Faced with the shock emergence of a lower back stress fracture that ruled Jack Leach out of all five Tests over the next two months, England assessed their spin stocks and decided Moeen was the first-choice replacement. This comes despite the all-rounder retiring from Test cricket 18 months ago after 64 caps, 2,914 runs and 195 wickets.
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The 4-0 Ashes defeat that winter led to full regime change and England have since set off on a surging run of results under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum. This period has energised old and new along the way and now, with Australia the next challenge for their aggressive methods, the pair are convinced a fluctuating talent such as Moeen can become the latest to catch the bug.
Initial contact was made with Moeen on Sunday evening in the aftermath of Leach’s cruel injury – a sore back during the final day of the 10-wicket win over Ireland that was not expected to be so serious for Stokes’ No 1 spinner. After talks on Monday, Moeen has taken up the request having weighed up the lure of joining a team that has been flying against a personal lack of red-ball cricket since his Test retirement.
There was also an underwhelming record against Australia to consider – statistics that started well in 2015 but were torched by the away tour in 2017-18. But the fast-forward cricket being played under Stokes and McCullum – plus doubtless the testimony of England players living their best lives these days – has persuaded the all-rounder these memories can be replaced by something happier this summer.
Rob Key, managing director of England men’s cricket, said: “We reached out to Mo early this week about returning to Test cricket. Having had a couple of days to reflect, Mo is excited to join the squad and play Test cricket again. His vast experience, along with his all-round ability, will benefit our Ashes campaign.”
On the part of Stokes and McCullum it represents a late switch to experience, having previously opted for youth when extra spin was needed in Pakistan last December. Rehan Ahmed sparkled on debut in Karachi to seal a famous 3-0 win but the leg-spinner is just 18, while the 24-year-old Will Jacks, another debutant, had a delayed start to the season at Surrey after injury and has 29 first-class wickets to date.
As a left-armer, Hampshire’s Liam Dawson was the other like-for-like alternative to Leach but with four left-handers in Australia’s likely top seven – David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Alex Carey – the captain and coach have decided to change tack and opt for Moeen’s angle as a right-arm off-spinner.
Moeen’s languid batting, which fell away in Test cricket after five centuries by the end of 2016, is now largely grooved to Twenty20 hitting, not so much strengthening the lower order as bringing the chance of coming off spectacularly at some point in the series. Again, this fits with the mentality under Stokes and McCullum.
The call-up will cut short Moeen’s long-awaited comeback with Warwickshire (Birmingham Bears) in the T20 Blast, 16 years after leaving the club for Worcestershire and having only just returned from winning the Indian Premier League for a second time with Chennai Super Kings.
After a team-bonding camp in Scotland this weekend, the England squad will convene in Birmingham at the start of next week for three days of training before the Edgbaston Test begins.
