At Oval Test, Moeen proves England’s man for all ages
The Oval has extracted every last drop of publicity from its 100th Test but even the PR department would have struggled to dream up an ending so dramatic it may be talked about 100 games hence.
After an unremarkable morning, Moeen Ali bounced up to the crease as the third English bowler to be on a hattrick in South Africa’s second innings of the third Test.
After a frenzied appeal, nailbiting review and final finger of doom, Moeen became the first player to achieve the feat in a Test at The Oval and the first English spinner to bag a hattrick since Tom Goddard in 1938.
The celebrations were all you might expect of such a deed.
This was the third time a Test had been completed with a hattrick and the first for 115 years. Never before have four batsmen been out for golden ducks in the same Test innings.
Moeen has taken 18 wickets in the series at an average of under 15 in 2017. These statistics reflect the new-found confidence to deliver slower balls, often tossed up to keep the batsmen guessing.
The more he has been dropped down the order - for this Test the former opener came in at number eight - the more he has accepted that his primary role is to take wickets. There were times in the second Test at Trent Bridge when Moeen had seemed underemployed.
Lack of overs is unlikely to be a problem again and, with 116 wickets, he could overhaul spinners Phil Tufnell (121), Ray Illingworth (122) and Phil Edmonds (125) on England’s alltime wicket-taking list by the time the summer is out.
Moeen still has a way to go before surpassing Derek Underwood’s 297 victims but England’s history man will do well to top his Oval performance.