Mystery deepens as England continue to ignore Moeen
➤ All-rounder overlooked for Curran during India T20 series ➤ Batting ability against spin should secure World Cup spot
The most destructive display of hitting at the end of an English innings on this tour of India has come from Moeen Ali: five sixes in just 18 balls, a reminder of his rare cocktail of timing, power and panache against spin. Alas, that was during the last throes of the second Test.
That innings in Chennai on Feb 16 was the last time that he played. He went home afterwards as part of a pre-agreed rest period. After returning for the limited-overs tour, he was not selected for a single Twenty20 international.
He has now been a tourist for the entirety of England’s past two T20 tours, to South Africa and India this winter, enduring eight games carrying drinks without being selected. All told, he has been away with England for more than three months, been available for 10 internationals – discounting the Tests in Sri Lanka when he was recovering from
Out in the cold: Moeen Ali has not played a T20 game this winter
Covid-19 – yet been selected only once. It is a curious way to treat a man three months shy of 34, especially in these times of bubble life.
In hindsight Moeen, and England, would have been better served had he been available for the final two Tests and then been rested for the limited-overs series. But, even so, England’s reticence to select him for a single T20 was perplexing.
In England’s best T20 XI, Moeen is in a tussle with Sam Curran for the No7 berth and to share fifth bowling duties with Ben Stokes. Both are left-handed batsmen with the flexibility to move up and down the order. And both are adept at taking the new ball. Which one England choose is one of their biggest pre-world Cup selection decisions.
This winter, Curran played in all eight games. He scored 31 runs and was dismissed twice, bowled 19 overs – just over two a game – took five wickets and conceded 8.7 an over, hardly a conclusive case that England could not do better. And even if they could not, giving Moeen a match or two would have been more instructive than giving Curran a seventh and an eighth.
It is true that the pitches in Ahmedabad turned less than expected. But Moeen still had grounds for inclusion in some games. That would have allowed him to make the case that, on flat wickets, he offers more than Curran. It would also have prepared him for the World Cup, when some pitches necessitate an extra spinner. For all the bafflement about his treatment, the pure cricketing reasons to select Moeen are also compelling. Some ebullient Indian Premier League innings have created excitement about Curran’s T20 batting prowess, yet Moeen offers pedigree of a different order.
In all T20 cricket since the 2016 World Cup, Moeen has the fifthhighest strike rate of any batsman to face 500 balls – the best of any English player. Handily ahead of a World Cup in India, no one in the world scores quicker against spin, with his extraordinary strike rate of 172. Since the 2016 World Cup, Moeen’s T20 strike rate for England of 156 is the highest of any player to face 100 balls. His prowess against spin means that he could easily be promoted up the order to attack it.
It is true that the worth of his bowling for England is less certain. Since the start of 2018, he averages 76.7 in T20IS while conceding 10.8 an over; he has bowled only six overs in his past seven T20IS. This suggests England see him primarily as a match-up option to left-handers, rather than a man to be relied on to deliver four overs.
So while there remain questions about Moeen, England are sadly no closer to answering them. Instead, they end the series with Curran’s bowling a growing concern.
Chennai Super Kings paid £700,000 for Moeen’s services in this year’s IPL. It is hard to escape the sense that the free market values him more than England do. So the fear is that while thriving in the IPL could showcase his qualities in Indian conditions, it could also accelerate his estrangement from the England team.