England put different spin on for Moeen

EVERYONE knows Moeen Ali is England’s best spinner after his Lord’s heroics - but no one must tell him so.

Moeen was key with ball and bat to a resounding victory over South Africa in Joe Root’s first Test as captain, first passing the benchmark of 100 wickets and 2,000 runs more quickly than any other England all-rounder apart from Tony Greig. He then made the most of a spinner’s pitch to run through South Africa with figures of six for 53 completing a 10-wicket match haul - as the tourists were all out for 119 to lose by 211 runs on an astounding fourth day of the first Investec Test at HQ.

Moeen’s feats have seen him shoot up the International Cricket Council rankings, nine places into the world’s top 20 bowlers - while at fourth in the all-rounder’s table, he has moved above Ben Stokes as England’s best.

England coach Trevor Bayliss describes the team’s latest match-winner as a “bit of a complex character at times”, though - and his chief foible, it seems, is that he needs his off-breaks to go under the radar, even if they are bringing him stacks of wickets.

For that reason, if England retain the same XI for the second Test of four at Trent Bridge on Friday, they will make clear - contrary to the statistics to hand - that Liam Dawson will be their number one spinner and Moeen’s primary task will still be as a batsman at number seven.

“We’ll stick with one spinner and one batter that bowls a little ... and that’s important for Mo more than anything,” said Bayliss. “He wants to be in the team as a batter that bowls a bit, so we’ve selected him as a batter and the second spinner.”

Either way, England know that in Moeen they have a bowler - as well as a batsman who can cash in when conditions suit.