MO OF THE SAME
Ali vows he won’t change despite Test snub & ODI loss to Scotland
MOEEN ALI has vowed not to change his free-spirited approach.
Dropped from the England Test team after a rough winter in Australia and New Zealand, Moeen was also one of the batsmen guilty of letting Scotland get over the line in the shock ODI defeat on Sunday.
But if Australia were hoping to face a player doubting himself in this Royal London one-day series, they will have to look elsewhere.
“I’m disappointed about the Scotland result, but they played well and we didn’t,” said Moeen.
“I feel like I got us back in the game, but obviously, in an ideal world, you want to knock them off and win the game. The ball was there to hit and I just mis-hit it.
“It’s all right when you hit them for six – great shot. I’d hit two or three for six then that one I almost tried to hit too straight and got out, so there’s a load of negativity around.
“I’m going to stay true to myself and not worry what people say. I feel good in my game, batting and bowling. I try to stick to my mindset and not let anyone change that.
“When you get left out of the Test side, you realise you have to be true to yourself. I’d rather get dropped playing the way I want to rather than playing the way people want me to. So that’s what I’m going to do.” That is exactly what skipper Eoin Morgan (above, with Aussie skipper Tim Paine) wants from the all-rounder – to go out and express himself.
The downside is that this approach can land your team in trouble, but this is about looking at what a player can do, rather than what he might not.
Despite playing 50 games, one wonders whether England’s Test team ever really backed him. It is their loss as he becomes increasingly indispensable to the one-day side.
And if Australia thought they could get under Moeen’s skin by reminding everyone on their website of the success Nathan Lyon had against him in the Ashes, it was flicked away to the boundary like a long hop.
“You don’t get medals for getting guys out all the time,” added Moeen. “Who cares? I’m just moving on.
“When we played in the Ashes in England, he never got me out once and nobody said anything.
“It doesn’t take Einstein to work out my approach. He bowled really well at me, I found him difficult in Australia. But one-day cricket is different.”