Moeen: I felt like I was the fall guy when we lost a Test
Moeen Ali believes he was unfairly made the scapegoat for England defeats and is still not ready for a return to Test cricket.
Moeen is on a self-imposed exile from Test cricket and turned down approaches from Joe Root and Chris Silverwood to return to the side in South Africa, where he would have played a major role given the illness to Jack Leach.
Instead, he has spent the winter playing franchise cricket in South Africa and Abu Dhabi, trying to recharge away from the scrutiny of being an England cricketer.
Moeen says he was worn down by five years of Test cricket and lost his appetite for the game when he was dropped against Australia last summer.
He subsequently lost his Test central contract but, with Leach struggling with illness and a lack of alternatives, Moeen would be a certain pick for the Sri Lanka tour if he were to make himself available.
Instead, he says he is yet to make up his mind and also has a contract to play in the Pakistan Super League Twenty20, which clashes with the Sri Lanka tour. He is clearly upset at the handling of his situation by England and the decision to leave him off the list of centrally contracted players, and it appears he is yet to be convinced there is a future for him in the Test side. He will speak with Silverwood in South Africa when he arrives for next month’s one-day series.
“A lot of the time, if we lose, I feel I am one of the first guys to get the blame for it. Yes, there have been days when I have not had a good game, but I feel sometimes it is easy to point the finger at me. It did get to me and that was one of the reasons why I needed to step back from Test cricket,” he told the BBC’S Cricket Social programme. “I felt like I was drained from it all.
“A lot of people could see I probably needed a break. It’s easy to just carry on, keep going and almost dig a deeper hole at times. But I just wanted to step back from it. I started reading about my faith more and taking interest in other things rather than focusing on cricket.”
He enjoys playing under Eoin Morgan for the one-day team, but it appears he is a long way off feeling comfortable in the Test side.
“I’m not sure yet [about Sri Lanka]. I’m going to go to South Africa now for the one-day stuff and decide there. I’ll come back when I feel ready. There’s no time frame. When I’m ready, I’ll come back, for sure. But I know I’ve got to earn my spot again,” he said.