Moeen left on his own as South Asian role model

All-rounder has part to play in ensuring cricket does not let fans slip through its fingers, writes Scyld Berry

When Moeen Ali led England from the field at Lord’s, his beautifully varied and flighted spell of off-spin had rounded off an excellent display by England’s revitalised Test team. Moeen had taken six for 53 and the first 10-wicket haul by an England spinner since 2013. But some other numbers did not add up.

“South Asians make up one-third of our recreational playing base,” says the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new consultation document (yes, for the first time, cricket’s governing body is asking people for long-term answers, not imposing short-term plasters). Yet Moeen is the only cricketer of South Asian origin in England’s Test team – as Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari and Haseeb Hameed have fallen by the wayside since last autumn – while only 4.2 per cent of county cricketers are South Asian.

In all, three million South Asians live in the UK, according to the ECB: 1.4 million of Indian origin, 1.1 million of Pakistani origin, 450,000 of Bangladeshi origin and 200,000 others. They spend £100 million per year on playing cricket and another £20 million on watching it: yet the number of MCC members of South Asian origin saluting Moeen was, in the eyes of this observer, less than a handful, with a couple of hundred, at most, in the 28,000 crowd at Lord’s.

Bit of a disconnect.

At long last, though, the ECB is trying to be inclusive and will be conducting consultation workshops in our major cities as well as seeking on-line responses at ecb.co.uk/ south asian cricket. Money, of course, is the best way to