Moeen wants Test return and will fight for his place
Moeen Ali is planning to return to Test cricket and is willing to fight for his place if picked for the tour to Sri Lanka in March.
Moeen has not played Test cricket since he was dropped after the first Ashes Test in August. He asked for a break from the format and turned down the chance to be picked in the squad for the recent South Africa series.
Moeen is in South Africa now for the white-ball part of the tour and will talk to coach Chris Silverwood and captain Joe Root about going to Sri Lanka.
It is still unclear if Moeen will be ready to return in time for the tour but he remains the best off-spinner in the country and would be picked if he decides to come back.
“I know even if I decide to go to Sri Lanka I might not get in straight away but I am going to fight for my place. I thought [off-spinner Dom] Bess bowled really well in South Africa but it was almost like, ‘yeah, I could do that, I can still do that’,” he told Sky Sports.
“I want to come back a better player. I don’t want to ever go through [how I was feeling] again. I don’t want anyone to think I don’t love playing for England because playing for your country is the greatest thing a cricketer can do.
“Even in the [one-day] warm-up games here, I was thinking ‘I have missed this’, which is exactly the feeling I want.”
England’s tour to Sri Lanka could be the first for decades to not feature live radio ball-by-ball coverage unless the BBC steps in this week.
The Daily Telegraph understands that Talksport, which has first option on the rights, may turn down the deal because of the sums being demanded by Sri Lanka Cricket.
It is understood the BBC, which has not budgeted for the Sri Lanka rights, will meet to decide whether to step in, although the corporation last week announced 450 job cuts.
England return to training today at Newlands to prepare for the opening one-day international against South Africa tomorrow. They are considering giving Matt Parkinson of Lancashire a chance as they look to widen their pool of players for the next World Cup.
England have rested Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood for this series, although all will return for the three Twenty20 matches.
Joe Denly earned the final oneday batting spot with 85 against a South African Invitational XI on Saturday, but Dawid Malan’s hopes look to have been ended after his two-ball duck.